Object Description
These chairs are in the manner of N.C. Foliot, 1706 – 1776, by repute formerly the property of Lady Rothschild prior to 1925 and acquired thereafter from a private collection. These are an important example of early post- Regence design c. 1728 – 30. The gesso gilded frames show the characteristics of the period in the flat backs, shallow but highly detailed carving and the cross stretchers. The single curve to the legs pre-dates the continuation to a scroll, a small pedestal appears beneath the scroll foot after 1725 and the asymmetry of the centre back panel is a foretaste of the burgeoning Rococo movement. Exaggeration of all these features would soon follow, as Jules Michelet observed, “The Louis XV style marks the return to a feeling of joy in living itself and to a warmer regard for human values.”