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Lot Essay
PLIANTS: A ROYAL FORM
This pair of richly carved pliants, or folding stools, is of a specific type which was employed almost exclusively at the Royal courts, particularly of France and Italy. 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 furnish her private apartments with pliants for her courtiers.
THE D.C. STAMP: 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 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. Another related pair of pliants with the same 'D.C.' stamp was sold anonymously at Christie's, New York, 11 December 2014, lot 32 ($106,250).
MADAME LOUISE-ELISABETH (1727-1759), MADAME INFANTE AND 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. The richly carved pliants offered here, feature a distinctive Italian gilding but are inspired by a set of five Louis XV pliants by Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot in the Palazzo Quirinale (see A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, Il Patrimonio Artistico del Quirinale: Gli Arredi Francesi, Milan, 1995, p. 58, pl. 57). The Parisian set by Foliot, bearing the royal inventory marks from the palaces of Parma, were part of the magnificent furnishings ordered in Paris in the 1750s by Madame Louise-Elisabeth (1727-1759), Madame Infante, eldest daughter of Louis XV, who in 1739 married Infant Don Philippe of Spain. In 1748, as a result of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, she became duchess of Parma and she and her husband established their court there in the most fashionable taste. Madame Infante made three visits to Paris - in 1749, from September 1752 until September 1753 and from September 1757 until her death there in December 1759 - each time making purchases for her palaces. On her return from the first two visits she was accompanied by thirty-four and fourteen wagons respectively. Menuiserie was shipped from Paris largely disassembled and ungilt and subsequently gilt upon their arrival in Parma by Francisco Ramoneda, official gilder to the court at Parma (op. cit. p. 35). A few finished examples were sent, however, and these finished examples were used as models, copied in Parma by local craftsmen. The present pair are very likely made by such a Parma chairmaker after an imported example.
This pair of richly carved pliants, or folding stools, is of a specific type which was employed almost exclusively at the Royal courts, particularly of France and Italy. 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 furnish her private apartments with pliants for her courtiers.
THE D.C. STAMP: 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 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. Another related pair of pliants with the same 'D.C.' stamp was sold anonymously at Christie's, New York, 11 December 2014, lot 32 ($106,250).
MADAME LOUISE-ELISABETH (1727-1759), MADAME INFANTE AND 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. The richly carved pliants offered here, feature a distinctive Italian gilding but are inspired by a set of five Louis XV pliants by Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot in the Palazzo Quirinale (see A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, Il Patrimonio Artistico del Quirinale: Gli Arredi Francesi, Milan, 1995, p. 58, pl. 57). The Parisian set by Foliot, bearing the royal inventory marks from the palaces of Parma, were part of the magnificent furnishings ordered in Paris in the 1750s by Madame Louise-Elisabeth (1727-1759), Madame Infante, eldest daughter of Louis XV, who in 1739 married Infant Don Philippe of Spain. In 1748, as a result of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, she became duchess of Parma and she and her husband established their court there in the most fashionable taste. Madame Infante made three visits to Paris - in 1749, from September 1752 until September 1753 and from September 1757 until her death there in December 1759 - each time making purchases for her palaces. On her return from the first two visits she was accompanied by thirty-four and fourteen wagons respectively. Menuiserie was shipped from Paris largely disassembled and ungilt and subsequently gilt upon their arrival in Parma by Francisco Ramoneda, official gilder to the court at Parma (op. cit. p. 35). A few finished examples were sent, however, and these finished examples were used as models, copied in Parma by local craftsmen. The present pair are very likely made by such a Parma chairmaker after an imported example.