A pair of carved giltwood and Beauvais tapestry upholstered marquises each stamped C.Sené, en suite with lot 44
Louis XVI, circa 1780

each with an arched padded back within a giltwood frame carved with guilloche, above padded arms and a loose cushion seat, the downscrolling arms carved with a lotus leaf, on fluted tapering legs surmounted by paterae, the ivory ground Beauvais tapestry depicting garlands hung with floral musical trophies and futher floral panels; regilt. each: 103cm. high, 78cm. wide; 3ft. 4in., 2ft. 6¼in. Estimate: 80,000—120,000 GBP - Lot Sold.  Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:  205,250 GBP

A pair of carved giltwood and Beauvais tapestry upholstered marquises each stamped C. Sené, en suite with the previous lot
Louis XVI, circa 1780

each with an arched padded back within a giltwood frame carved with guilloche, above padded arms and a loose cushion seat, the downscrolled arms carved with a lotus leaf, on fluted tapering legs surmounted by paterae, the ivory ground Beauvais tapestry depicting garlands hung with floral musical trophies and futher floral panels; regilt. each: 103cm. high, 78cm. wide; 3ft. 4in., 2ft. 6¼in. Estimate: 80,000—120,000 GBP - Lot Sold.  Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:  193,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Adélaïde Lalive de La Briche (1755-1844), Château du Marais, Seine-et-Oise, see figs.1, 2 and 3.
Hôtel de Maisons, 51 rue de l'Université, Paris, see fig. 4.
Christie's New York, 30th October 1993, lot 372.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: P. Verlet, French Furniture and Interior Decoration of the 18^th Century, London, Barrie and Rockliff, 1967, pp.17-18, fig. 12.

CATALOGUE NOTE:

Adélaïde Lalive de La Briche (1755-1844), see fig.1 (lot 43):
Through her marriage to Lalive de La Briche , she became known as Madame La Briche. She was born in Nancy on 9th December 1755 and died in Paris on 24th January 1844 and was the daughter of Bon Prévost, receveur général des fermes de Lorraine and his wife Marie Le Maître de la Martinière.The latter was the sister of Jean le Maître de La Martinière, Treasurer General of the Artillery, who enjoyed an immense fortune and built the impressive Château de Marais near Saint-Chéron. He died without issue so he left his château to his niece and nephews but it was Adélaïde who became the sole owner of the Château du Marais.

In 1780, she married Alexis Janvier Lalive de la Briche (1735-1785), the intermediary of the ambassadors to the court of Louis XVI. He was much older than his wife and Lalive de Briche predeceased her and left her a beautiful hôtel particulèire in Paris in rue de la Ville-l'Éveque in the area of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Madame Houdetot wrote of Adélaïde's, `Talent, esprit, raison, maintien, figure même, tout chez elle était assorti'..`Elle conservait une attitude modeste et Bourgeoise'- thus wrote Charles de Rémusat: `on trouvait qu'elle avait l'air d'une gouvernante de bonne maison. Avec très peu d'esprit, elle avait un excellent esprit et le goût de l'esprit...Elle amait les gens de lettres et de spectacle.C'était une excellente maîtresse de maison et une femme d'une bontéparfaite, mais elle n'avait ni bonne grace, ni mouvement. '

Château du Marais, Seine-et-Oise:
These chairs, which are part of a larger suite, are illustrated by Verlet, op. cit., in the grand salon of the old Hôtel de Maison, Paris (fig. 4). They came from the Château du Marais, one of France's greatest neo-classical palaces, and may well have been part of the original furnishings. The Château was built between 1772-79 by Jean Benoît Vincent Barré (d. 1824) for Jean Le Maître de La Martinière, then Paymaster-General to the Royal Engineers and Artillery. Its lavishness shocked contemporaries, one of whom described it as "fit for a Prince of Royal blood". It remained in Le Maître's family until 1897 when it was bought by the politician and dandy Boniface, Comte de Castellane, who added superb gardens. The Château then passed to the Duchess of Talleyrand and is now partly a museum. The personality of its first owner Madame de La Briche (see p. 154) can be summed up by the judgement of a collector, ` le château du Marais n'est point un château mais un vaste et superne hôtel à dix lieux de Paris '(`Memorial de Norvins,' Paris, 1896, Vol. I.).

The Tapestry:
The distinctive Beauvais tapestry decorated with musical trophies relates to a very similar marquise stamped by Henri Jacob illustrated in G. Janneau, Les Sieges, Paris, 1977, plate XXX. Related tapestry is also illustrated by M. Jules Badin, La Manufacture de Tapisseries de Beauvais, Paris, 1909, p.97.

The Royal factory at Beauvais was founded in 1664 under the sponsorship of Louis XIV. At the end of the eighteenth century, despite the neo-classical demand for tapestries with serious historical themes, it continued to specialise in the kind of bucolic or exotic scenes that were fashionable in the rococo period. Furniture covers were often made en suite with sets of wall hangings.

Claude II Sené:
He was received maitre in 1769 and also known as Claude Sené le Jeune and came from a dynasty of chairmakers. Like his father Claude I and brother Jean-Baptiste, he enjoyed aristocratic patronage and became highly successful in his own right. Almost all of his known furniture postdates Louis XV stylistically, and is characterised by assured carving and graceful lines. See also the footnote to lots 12, 13 & 14.

Sotheby's London. The Dimitri Mavrommatis Collection: Important French Furniture and Sèvres Porcelain from the Chester Square Residence, London. 08 Jul 08. www.sothebys.com