A set of Louis XVI white-painted wood seat furniture, circa 1775, by Louis-Charles Carpentier
Estimate
40,000 - 65,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
comprising a pair of bergères and a pair of armchairs, the backrest and seat rail with a bow, decorated with twisted ribbons and heart-shaped motifs, the corner blocks adorned with two roundels, standing on tapered and fluted legs, with a modern blue velvet trim upholstery by maison Decour, the armchairs stamped "L.C. CARPENTIER";
Bergères : Haut. 108 cm, larg. 75 cm, prof. 66 cm ; Height 42 1/2 in, width 29 1/2 in, depth 26 in
Armchairs : Haut. 98 cm, larg. 67 cm, prof. 59 cm ; Height 38 1/2 in., width 26 1/2 in., depth 23 1/4 in.
(4)
Sotheby's, Monaco, March 2rd, 1990, lots 194 and 195
Related literature :
B. Pallot, L’art du siège au XVIIIe siècle en France, Paris, 1987.
V. Moreau (dir.), Chanteloup : un moment de grâce autour du duc de Choiseul, Paris, 2007, cat. exhibit., Musée des beaux-arts de Tours, 7 April-8 July 2007.
Références bibliographiques :
B. Pallot, L’art du siège au XVIIIe siècle en France, Paris, 1987
V. Moreau (dir.), Chanteloup : un moment de grâce autour du duc de Choiseul, Paris, 2007, cat. exp., Musée des beaux-arts de Tours, 7 avril-8 juillet 2007
Louis-Charles Carpentier, received master in 1752
Louis-Charles Carpentier, a pioneering woodmaker of the classical revival
Like his illustrious contemporaries, woodmakers Louis Delanois and Nicolas Heurtaut, Louis-Charles Carpentier distinguished himself particularly in the Transition style.
The wood of these chairs demonstrates the precocity of Carpentier's neoclassical production. As early as 1768, he created Transition-style chairs, introducing this new repertoire. The top of the backrest features a slight offset, and the armrest uprights are already aligned with the front leg. The backrest and side rails follow a sinuous form. Particular attention should be paid to the rather prominent and angular connecting block adorned with small discs, as well as the pronounced molding and bold carving. This set, which originally comprised a larger number of pieces, was dispersed. A pair of bergère armchairs and two regular armchairs were sold at a Replica Shoes 's auction in Monaco, while a sofa, formerly in the Dalva Brothers gallery, was sold by Replica Shoes 's in New York on October 27, 2001, lot 149.
These characteristics are also found on a pair of bergère armchairs delivered for the Duke of Choiseul, sold by Replica Shoes 's in Paris on November 15, 2023, lot 34. Indeed, the presence of the stamp associated with the brand mark of the Château de Chanteloup supports the opinion expressed by V. Moreau in his publication on seating in the 2006 exhibition catalog, according to which this cabinetmaker participated in furnishing the Duke of Choiseul's château near Tours.
Carpentier's distinctive, innovative, and assertive style likely appealed to a demanding clientele eager for novelty. In addition to the Duke of Choiseul, his prestigious clients included the Prince of Condé, the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Aumont, the Duchess of Villeroy, the Marquise de Brunoy, and Baron Roslin d'Ivry, for whom he created a vast, innovatively designed suite of furniture around 1770 for his Château d'Hénonville, which is the only known piece of furniture covered in blue damask tapestry made at the Gobelins Manufactory.
Several pieces of salon furniture stamped by Carpentier are known, including the famous set that is part of the "furniture of the four parts of the world" furnished with Gobelins tapestries, kept at the Louvre (Grog-Carven donation, inv. OA 10506) and that commissioned by the Prince of Condé for his daughter Princess Louise-Adélaïde at the Palais Bourbon around 1775, of which a sofa is kept at the Louvre Museum (inv. OA 11177).