RARE MOBILIER D'ÉPOQUE EMPIRE DE LA DUCHESSE DE BERRY,

FROM THE GRAND SALON OF THE CH TEAU DE ROSNY Comprising 11 chairs, 13 armchairs (8 with upholstered arms), 1 large sofa, 1 pair of small sofas, 1 pair of fire screens and 1 pair of foot stools. In molded and carved mahogany and mahogany veneer, the crook-shaped armrests decorated with palmettes ending in scrolls, the uprights topped with rosettes, the legs sabres, each fire-marked R.57, handwritten label in Grandjean Tapissier ink under the posterior crosspiece, the tapestry cover in point on a yellow background decorated with mythological scenes. A broken posterior leg on an armchair, a replaced posterior leg on an armchair, consolidations and restorations, accidents to some upholstery. First Empire period, circa 1815. Attributed to François-Honoré-Georges JACOB-DESMALTER (1770-1841). Chairs: H. 92 x W. 47 cm. Armchairs: H. 94 x W. 63 cm. Upholstered armchairs: H. 100 x W. 67 cm. Large sofa: H. 109 x W. 191 cm. Small sofas: H. 102 x W. 125 cm. Screens: H. 107 x W. 70 cm. Stools: H. 17 x W. 43 cm. This lot was classified as a Historic Monument by decree of September 6, 1990. It is subject to restrictions on its circulation outside France; the identity and contact details of the purchaser must be communicated to the Ministry of Culture and Communication. Please contact the department for further information. The present lot has been classified by decree on the 6th September 1990 amongst the French Monuments Historiques. Restrictions to its movement outside of the French territories therefore apply; the identity and contact details of the buyer must be given to the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. Please contact the department for any further information. Provenance - Possibly Alexandre Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord (1787-1872) and his wife Dorothée de Courlande (1793-1862), Duke and Duchess of Dino, at Château de Rosny-sur-Seine. - Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Siciles, duchesse de Berry (1798-1870), at the château de Rosny-sur-Seine, for the Grand Salon. - Count Jules Polydore Le Marois (1802-1870), at the château de Rosny-sur-Seine. - Gustave Lebaudy (1827-1889), château de Rosny-sur-Seine. - Anonymous sale, Maître Rogeon, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, October 18, 1993, lots 123 and 124. - French Spirit sale, Christie's, Paris, November 30, 2016, lots 48 and 49. - Private collection, Paris. History The first mention of our seating suite is in the inventory of the Château de Rosny drawn up in 1818, where the salon furniture included 2 two-seater sofas, 1 large sofa, 8 large armchairs and 4 rectangular-backed armchairs, 12 chairs, 1 pair of veneered footstools and 1 pair of firewalls. On July 4, 1820, following the death of the Duc de Berry, a second inventory was drawn up, describing the surviving petit point tapestry with a yellow background and mythological scenes in grisaille. According to Cécile Dupont-Logié, the embroidery of this trim was the work of the duchess herself and her ladies-in-waiting (cf. Entre cour et jardin. Marie-Caroline, duchesse de Berry, Sceaux, 2007, p. 146, no. 94). A handwritten label on one of the armchairs reveals the name of the upholsterer Grandjean, referenced at 39 rue de la Tonnellerie in Paris in 1811 (cf. J. de La Tynna, Almanach du commerce de Paris, Paris, 1811, pp. 77 and 331). It's important to note that the Duchesse de Berry acquired the château partly furnished, so it's possible that our salon was originally delivered for Alexandre Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, Talleyrand's nephew, and his wife Dorothée de Courlande, Duke and Duchess of Dino, previous owners of the estate. Thus, the Duchesse de Berry would have been content to renew the upholstery of the salon furniture. The iron mark "R.57" visible on this set testifies to the duchess's use of this furniture. This mark corresponds to that affixed to all the château's furniture by the Duchesse de Berry and is also found on pieces dating from 1821. Jacob-Desmalter, to whom this suite is attributed, supplied her with an important seating ensemble until her exile. In 1824, Jacob-Desmalter delivered a loveseat, a small footstool and a pair of meridiennes in amaranth-inlaid ash for his château de Rosny, now in the collection of Countess Charlotte Lucchesi-Palli at Weinburg Castle in Austria. This light-wood ensemble recalls that the Duchess was one of the first to purchase and update native wood furniture under the Restoration. A more modest set of salon furniture, comprising six seats and marked "R.24" and "R.27", sold at Sotheby's London, April 14, 20.