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Lot Essay
This pair of richly carved pliants, or folding stools, is of a specific type which was employed almost exclusively for the Royal court. Their use was strictly regulated by the hierarchical dictates of court etiquette, whereby courtiers were required to be seated on stools in the presence of the King or Queen, who alone were permitted a chair with arms, emblematic of the power of the throne, a symbolic link which went back at least to the Middle Ages. Thus the inventory of Louis XIV's mobilier listed no fewer than 1,323 stools at Versailles, and the tradition extended right to the end of monarchical rule in France, as even Marie Antoinette, so keen to follow the latest fashions, continued to furnished her private apartments with pliants for her courtiers.
THE ROYAL ITALIAN PROVENANCE
The stamp ‘D.C.’ on these stools stands for ‘Dotazione della Corona d’Italia’ and would probably have been applied during the inventories of the residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin, Genoa, Milan, Monza, Florence and Rome, following the unification of Italy in 1861. Unfortunately in the absence of further numbers or letters (a further inscription with the numbers 85…7 by the ‘D.C.’ stamp has been partially erased), it is not possible to determine exactly which Royal Palace these stools were originally supplied to. The ‘D.C.’ stamp appears on a number of pieces of Royal furniture now in the Palazzo Quirinale, Rome, and on a pair of Roman commodes acquired for the Villa Reale, Monza in the late 19th century (possibly later transferred to Racconigi, Turin), sold Christie’s, London, 11 December 2003, lot 40.
THE INFLUENCE OF FRANCE
Given the strong links between Savoy and France, it is not surprising to see folding stools such as these, executed in Italy, but clearly based on French prototypes. It is well known for instance that Madame Louise-Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Louis XV, who, following her marriage to Infante Don Philippe of Spain became the duchess of Parma in 1748, commissioned extraordinary quantities of bronzes d’ameublement and mobilier in Paris to furnish her palace at Colorno, but would also turn to local Italian craftsmen to augment existing suites of seat furniture when need arose. This is reflected by an Italian giltwood armchair (sold anonymously, Christie’s, New York, 19 March 1998, lot 159), which exactly followed the design of a suite of Parisian seat furniture, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Tilliard, which was delivered to Parma undecorated and then gilded by the court Italian doratore Francisco Ramoneda) and now in the Quirinale (see A. González-Palacios, Il Patrimonio Artistico del Quirinale: Gli Arredi Francesi, Milan, 1995, pp. 152-155, figs. 14-15).
A further similar giltwood pliant, attributed to Parma but following a French prototype, was sold Christie’s, New York, 20 April 2007 and also had impressed inventory marks including DC.
THE ROYAL ITALIAN PROVENANCE
The stamp ‘D.C.’ on these stools stands for ‘Dotazione della Corona d’Italia’ and would probably have been applied during the inventories of the residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin, Genoa, Milan, Monza, Florence and Rome, following the unification of Italy in 1861. Unfortunately in the absence of further numbers or letters (a further inscription with the numbers 85…7 by the ‘D.C.’ stamp has been partially erased), it is not possible to determine exactly which Royal Palace these stools were originally supplied to. The ‘D.C.’ stamp appears on a number of pieces of Royal furniture now in the Palazzo Quirinale, Rome, and on a pair of Roman commodes acquired for the Villa Reale, Monza in the late 19th century (possibly later transferred to Racconigi, Turin), sold Christie’s, London, 11 December 2003, lot 40.
THE INFLUENCE OF FRANCE
Given the strong links between Savoy and France, it is not surprising to see folding stools such as these, executed in Italy, but clearly based on French prototypes. It is well known for instance that Madame Louise-Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Louis XV, who, following her marriage to Infante Don Philippe of Spain became the duchess of Parma in 1748, commissioned extraordinary quantities of bronzes d’ameublement and mobilier in Paris to furnish her palace at Colorno, but would also turn to local Italian craftsmen to augment existing suites of seat furniture when need arose. This is reflected by an Italian giltwood armchair (sold anonymously, Christie’s, New York, 19 March 1998, lot 159), which exactly followed the design of a suite of Parisian seat furniture, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Tilliard, which was delivered to Parma undecorated and then gilded by the court Italian doratore Francisco Ramoneda) and now in the Quirinale (see A. González-Palacios, Il Patrimonio Artistico del Quirinale: Gli Arredi Francesi, Milan, 1995, pp. 152-155, figs. 14-15).
A further similar giltwood pliant, attributed to Parma but following a French prototype, was sold Christie’s, New York, 20 April 2007 and also had impressed inventory marks including DC.