Chair

One of a set of six chairs ('chaises à carreaux') in the Wallace Collection, F233–238. The chairs have carved gilt beech frames with borders of interlace pattern round the back and seat; the fixed upholstery and separate seat cushions are covered with a modern blue, white and grey silk lampas. Jean-Baptiste Boulard (c. 1725–1789) was the menuisier responsible for making these chairs, which were carved by either Nicolas-François Vallois (1738–1788) or Louis Charny (active 1756–1786) under the direction of Jean Hauré (active 1774–1791). The gilding was by Louis Chatard (active 1773–1789), whose trade label appears under two of them (F233 and F235). They were upholstered by Claude-Francois Capin (active 1763–1792), the court upholsterer, with blue, white and grey lampas supplied by Louis Reboul, Fontebrune et Cie of Lyon. The chairs were ordered on 12 August 1786 as part of a set of thirty-six for the salon des jeux du roi, a room used for after-dinner card games, at the palace of Fontainebleau. Two of the original door frames for this room still survive and are carved with interlace pattern, as on the chair frames. These chairs, with their comparatively short legs and separate cushions, were meant for use by ladies. Other chairs from the same set may be found in the Musée du Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Reupholstered with Beauvais tapestries in the nineteenth century, the chairs were conserved using archival evidence in 1982. New silk, copying the original blue, white and grey lampas decorated with river gods and sea-horses, was woven and used to cover the chairs.