A LOUIS XVI GILTWOOD CANAPE 'A LA TURQUE'

The distinctively outscrolling arms, richly carved with acanthus, is a form known as ' à la turque', recalling the 'boudoirs turcs' which were so fashionable in the 1780s among collectors such as the Comte d'Artois. The refinement of the carving and the confidence of the line of this superb canapé indicate that it was supplied by a chair-maker of the highest rank. A strong candidate would be Georges Jacob (maître in 1765), perhaps the most widely known and accomplished menuisier of the Louis XVI period. Similar jewel-like carving, ring-turned and fluted legs and distinctively spherical finials feature on other canapés by Jacob, including one sold Christie's, New York, 21-22 October 2010, lot 456 ($134,500), while the outswept scrolling arms, richly carved with acanthus, recall those on the canapé in the famous suite of mobilier delivered by Jacob in 1787 to the Salon des Jeux in the château de Saint Cloud (illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français de XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 416, fig. A). A closely related, but unstamped, canapé 'à la turque' is in the Louvre Museum, gifted by Isaac Camondo in 1911 (see B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, vol. II, pp. 148-9, cat. 51).