CIRCA 1740

This sofa is en suite with a set of six fauteuils previously in the collection of Francis Guérault, sold Christie's, Paris, 21-22 March 1935, lot 60 (one pair subsequently sold Christie's, Monaco, 15 June 1996, lot 114, FF348,500; a further pair was sold at Christie's, London, 23 June 1999, lot 33, £45,500). The chairs are covered in the same yellow ground Beauvais tapestry depicting La Fontaine's Fables, though the frames are not decorated, and were probably stripped in the 19th Century. Seat furniture depicting Fables de La Fontaine became popular in the 18th Century. Many artists designed pictures for the Fables, including Jean-Baptiste Oudry, who delivered his famous cartoons to Beauvais in 1737, and François Boucher who is believed to have designed a series of his own cartoons before 1770. An inventory commissioned by M. Devin de Gravelle lists 'huit fauteuils et un canapé de trois places de bois doré à chassis couvert de tapisserie de Beauvais, fables d'après de dessins de Boucher, 1,000 livres'.