A Louis XVI gilt walnut armchair, stamped by Georges Jacob, circa 1784-1785, for the boudoir of quee

A Louis XVI gilt walnut armchair, stamped by Georges Jacob, circa 1784-1785, for the boudoir of queen Marie-Antoinette at Versailles

The back framed with brandons and ivy leaf scrolls, surmounted by a cartouche adorned with eagle heads, roosters and cornucopia, on the reverse a five-pointed star with pearls and drapery; the belt sculpted with a twisted ribbon, with rows of pearls and bows; resting on quiver-shaped legs; covered with embroidered lilac silk; stamped G.IACOB; (gilding restored)

Height. 36 ¼ in, width. 19 ¾ in, depth. 17 ¾ in

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Chaise royale en noyer sculpté et doré d’époque Louis XVI, estampille de Georges Jacob, vers 1784-1785, pour le boudoir de Marie-Antoinette au château de Versailles

Le dossier plat encadré de brandons avec des enroulements de feuilles de lierre, surmonté d’un cartouche orné de têtes d’aigle, coq et cornes d’abondance garnies de fruits, au revers une étoile à cinq branches avec perles et draperies ; la ceinture sculptée d’un ruban torsadé, avec rangs de perles et culots ; reposant sur des pieds en forme de carquois ; recouverte de soie lilas brodée ; estampillée G.IACOB ; (reprise à la dorure)

Haut. 92 cm, larg. 50 cm, prof. 45 cm

Provenance
Pour le boudoir de la reine Marie-Antoinette (ou Cabinet de la Méridienne) vers 1784-1785 

Très probablement vente révolutionnaire à Versailles entre août 1793 et août 1794

Collection du comte et de la comtesse Greffuhle, Paris à la fin du XIXe siècle, puis par descendance vente Me Binoche, le 6 mars 2000, lot 115

Exhibited
V. Noce, « Le temps retrouvé à Drouot », article dans le quotidien Libération, le 6 mars 2000

Références bibliographiques

Graul, Das XVIII Jahrhundert Dekoration und Mobiliar, Berlin 1903

Comte de Salverte, Les ébénistes du XVIIIe siècle, 1923

Le Fuel, Georges Jacob (1739-1814), Paris, 1923 Baulez, Cinq ans d’enrichissement du patrimoine national 1975-1980, Paris, 1981, n°69

M. Beurdeley, La France à l’encan 1789-1799, Fribourg, 1981

M. Beurdeley, « Vente du mobilier royal de Versailles », cat. expo. De Versailles à Paris, le destin des collections royales, Paris, 1989

D. Meyer, Le mobilier de Versailles, Vol. 2, Dijon 2002, n° 69

C. Baulez, « Le Garde-Meuble de la Reine », cat. expo. Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette à Compiègne, 2006

F. Didier « La restauration du cabinet de la Méridienne », Versalia, n°20, 2017

E. Caude, « Remeublement du boudoir de la Reine ou cabinet de la Méridienne. Projet de restitution des soieries brochées et brodées », Versalia, n°20, 2017

C. Baulez, « Les ventes révolutionnaires », Versalia, n°24, 2021

Vidéo :

Youtube : La Restauration des Tissus du Cabinet de la Méridienne par Elisabeth Caude

Georges Jacob, menuisier, reçu maître en 1765

Catalogue note
Garde-Meuble de la Couronne and the Queen's private Garde-Meuble 

Alongside the official Garde-meuble de la Couronne, other more confidential services dedicated to furnishing the private flats of the king, queen and royal family flourished in the final years of the monarchy. From 1784 onwards, Pierre-Charles Bonnefoy-Duplan, who managed the Queen's privategarde-meuble, acted completely independently of the imposing administration headed by Thierry de Ville d'Avray, who had just succeeded Pierre-Elisabeth de Fontanieu. It was to this private garde-meuble that we owe the dazzling orders that testify to the extreme luxury with which the queen liked to surround herself, and which thus affirmed her most personal taste.

The Queen's boudoir or the Cabinet de la Méridienne: the intimate private flats

Designed in 1781 according to drawings by the architect Richard Mique for the most demanding of her patrons, Marie-Antoinette, the small 10m2 boudoir, located behind the queen's bedroom on the first floor of the central south wing of the château, underwent an architectural restoration in 2015 that continued with the restoration of the fabrics until its inauguration and opening to the public in June 2023.

An intimate room, it had two sets of furniture in the early 1780s that were not chosen by the queen, so her private garde-meuble ordered a third set, which was delivered around 1784-1785. A pair of armchairs is the only surviving example of this in situ (acquired in 1980, inv. V. 5183-5184).

Deliveries circa1784-1785

Unfortunately, the inventory of deliveries from the Queen's garde-meuble managed by Bonnefoy-Du Plan disappeared in 1792. This general list of the Queen's furniture at Versailles, Trianon, the Tuileries, Compiègne and Fontainebleau, which would have greatly facilitated the work of historians, was lost; It has been suggested that Bonnefoy-Du Plan deliberately destroyed these documents so as not to overwhelm the queen at her trial, thus avoiding a confrontation with the lavish expenses associated with her lifestyle. Were they confiscated by the commissioners responsible for seizing the furniture or simply destroyed in the revolutionary turmoil? This disappearance has given rise to many dreams, myths and aberrations.

The Revolutionary auctions of 1793-1794

In order to offset the abysmal expenses generated by the political situation and the wars on the borders, major auctions were organised at Versailles. As early as January 1793, the National Convention decreed that "pour le mobilier somptueux des derniers tyrans de la France...il sera procédé au recollement général des inventaires et à la vente des meubles courants estimés valoir moins de mille livres. Les objets de plus de mille livres seront adjugés après extinction des feux. Pour les objets de plus de mille livres, il sera dressé un catalogue descriptif, lequel sera affiché, distribué et inséré dans les journaux ". More than 17,000 lots were offered between 25 August 1793 and 11 August 1794. It was during one of these auctions that the Queen's boudoir furniture was put up for auction.

The Greffuhle chair and the rest of the furniture: Proustian and Prussian accents

This set of furniture, or at least a large part of it, went to Prussia, to a residence called the Badelogierhaus run by the Schröder family in the spa principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont. This is where Louise of Prussia lived and the residence, a popular health resort for the German and Central European aristocracy, was required to have refined furnishings for the visitors it welcomed. A century later, the set was transferred to the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts, which acquired it in 1895, shortly after the Schröder family moved to Hanover.

The Kunstgewerbemuseum, under the direction of R. Grault, published a book on 18th century furniture in 1903. In the pages devoted to this set, which he indicated came from the Queen's furnishings at Versailles, he mentioned the existence of a chair in the collection of comte Greffuhle in Paris (op. cit. p.108). At this date the bergère and the footstool are not mentioned and their traces are lost. H. Le Fuel (op. cit.) published his monograph on Georges Jacob in 1923, where he detailed the pieces kept in