A Louis XV giltwood fauteuil by Jean Avisse, mid-18th century

With the Panacea Society,

Sold Messrs W&H Peacock, The Panacea Society Sale, August 2001, lot 570.

The present fauteuil was most probably once part of a larger suite of seating furniture including at least one other armchair and possibly a sofa. Other examples by Avisse after the same exact model as the present have not been recorded yet and therefore makes this fauteuil an exciting addition to the oeuvre of Jean Avisse. Though he was reputed for the usage of floral motifs and bold carvings, the present joins a group within his work adopting more restrained decorations and plain seat rails punctuated occasionally by scrolls. Other related members of this group include a pair of Sotheby’s, Paris, 11 April 2018, lot 145 and a marquise sold Sotheby’s, Paris, 27 November 2018, lot 33.

Jean Avisse (1723-1796)

Avisse established his workshop in 1743 in the rue de Cléry where he initially executed commissions from the marchand-merciers; subsequently he worked exclusively for private clients and the French aristocracy. Avisse collaborated with the most important carvers of his time such as François Baillard, Claude Vinache and Pierre Rousseau resulting in luxuriously carved seat furniture of generous proportions.  

The Panacea Society

The Panacea Society was a religious group in Bedford, England founded in 1919 by Mabel Barltrop along with twelve of her “apostles” under the name Community of the Holy Ghost. Their values and beliefs were based on the teachings of Joanna Southcott (1750-1814), also known as the Devonshire prophetess. Southcott, an eighteenth century mystic religious figure, had left a box of her writings which she instructed could be opened at times of national crises by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of all the bishops of the Church of England. Barltrop considered herself the messenger of Southcott's prophecies. The Panacea Society was a wealthy organization and it had several properties, two of which were on Albany Road in Bedford. One of the buildings was maintained as a residence for the Messiah after the Second Coming. It is uncertain how the society came into possession of the present armchair but it surely adorned one of their more formal residences. It could have been given to the society by one of its members.