A SET OF FOUR LOUIS XVI CARVED GILTWOOD FAUTEUILS A LA REINE

The distinctive arched back of the present armchair was employed in numerous variations by talented menuisiers but possibly first by Jean-Baptiste Gourdin around 1770, who executed a similar chair which is now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (see Bill Pallot, The Art of the Chair in 18th Century France, Paris, 1989, p. 186). However, the present examples can be attributed to Georges Jacob, based on comparison with a set of similarly-decorated chairs stamped by him, which were sold Christie's Paris, 13 December 2006, lot 310. The distinctive chamfering of the seat-rails is also characteristic of Jacob's oeuvre.