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pair of armchairs in the style of louis iian image of a chair with a tapestry on the back of itan image of a chair with a tapestry on the backtwo chairs with colorful upholstered upholstered upholstered upholstered upholstered upholstered upholstered upholsteredPhoto 5/5 du lot
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68 - PAIR OF LARGE REGENCY-PERIOD QUEEN’S ARMCHAIRS In moulded an…
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Estimate €12,000 - €18,000
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Description
PAIR OF LARGE REGENCY-PERIOD QUEEN’S ARMCHAIRS In moulded and carved walnut; the armrests feature cuffs decorated with shells and acanthus leaves; the waistband is adorned in the centre with a cartouche flanked by foliage scrolls, the sides featuring a shell motif, the arched legs finished with scrolls, upholstered in Beauvais tapestry with a polychrome design depicting scenes from La Fontaine’s Fables on a blue background, numbered V and VII beneath the moulding; reinforcements at the belt, minor imperfections in the tapestry H.: 113 cm (44 ½ in.) W.: 74 cm (29 ¼ in.) Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Baron Nathan James Edouard de Rothschild, 38 avenue de Friedland, Paris; Formerly in the collection of Baron Henri de Rothschild; Subsequently passed down through the family to the current owners. Bibliography: Inventory following the death of Baron James Edouard de Rothschild, drawn up by Notary Corrard on 21 November 1881 and following pages, “263. Eight armchairs and a sofa, in carved wood, Louis XIV style, upholstered in antique Beauvais tapestry depicting La Fontaine’s Fables, valued at 40,000 francs”. A pair of large Regence-style carved walnut ‘à la reine’ armchairs Exceptional both for the quality of their carving and for the rarity and freshness of their tapestry, produced at the Beauvais manufactory, this pair of armchairs is nonetheless of interest in terms of their structure. Stylistically datable to the early Régence period, they retain a still restrained form, tempered only by a slight curve in the backrest that already foreshadows the Louis XV period. The armrests, set back from the front legs, are highly characteristic of Rocaille chairs and would be adopted throughout the 18th century. Their upholstery, depicting scenes from La Fontaine’s Fables, allows us to link them to a very limited group of chairs, among which we may mention: A set of four armchairs from the former collection of Madame Lelong, sold at auction in Paris on 30 April 1903, lot 374 (see fig. 1); A set of six queen-style armchairs sold in Paris on 14 June 1935, lot 91 (see fig. 2); A fireplace screen exhibited at the Petit Palais in 1900 and illustrated in J.D. Ludmann, *Le Palais Rohan de Strasbourg*, Vol. I, Strasbourg, 1980, p. 329, fig. 270. This pair of armchairs was most certainly part of the set mentioned in Baron Nathan James de Rothschild’s grand library in 1881; in the inventory drawn up following the Baron’s death in November 1881, they are described as follows: “Eight armchairs, one sofa, in carved wood, Louis XIV style, upholstered in antique Beauvais tapestry depicting La Fontaine’s fables, valued at 40,000 francs”. A note in the margin of the inventory indicates that these seats were transported to Baron Henri’s château; this refers either to the Château des Vaux de Cernay or to the Château de La Muette, the baron’s Parisian residence, now the headquarters of the OECD. We know the fate of the rest of this furniture during the 20th century: the sofa and four armchairs from this set appeared in the sale of Baron Henri’s collections in 1977 (auction on 22 March 1977, lot 104), then at a sale at Sotheby’s Monaco on 13 February 1983, lot 507, before becoming part of the collections of the famous collector (see fig. 4) Akram Ojjeh (Christie’s Monaco sale, 11 December 1999, lot 20). As for the other pair of armchairs, they ended up in the hands of the Seligmann family, a renowned dynasty of Parisian antique dealers, before being sold at Sotheby’s Monaco on 14–15 June 1981, lot 51.
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About the sale The Rothschild taste, passed down through the generations: A pied-à-terre on the Champ-de-Mars
Auction location
Auction time 09/22/2026 at 2:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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