Blaise Maucuy (1729–1798) A Louis XV Giltwood Fauteuil

A fine carved giltwood fauteuil of the Louis XV period, the beechwood frame of serpentine outline throughout. The shaped cartouche-form padded back surmounted by a foliate and floral cresting centred by a rosette; the moulded show-wood rails carved with acanthus sprays and rocaille ornament at the shoulder angles. Padded open arms with scrolled arm-supports above a shaped and moulded seat rail centred by a floral spray, raised on cabriole legs with foliate-carved knees terminating in scroll feet. Upholstered in a terracotta cut-velvet of large-scale foliate and floral design.

Stamped B. MAUCUY

Height: 100 cm; Width: 72 cm; Depth: 59 cm

The Maker
Blaise Maucuy (1729–10 January 1798) was a menuisier en sièges who received his mastership on 28 July 1758. Established in the quartier Bonne-Nouvelle (the traditional quarter of the Parisian chair-makers). He ceased his activity in the early 1780s. His output spans both the rococo idiom of Louis XV, represented by the present example with its vigorous carved ornament and fluid cabriole legs, and the subsequent neoclassical manner of the transition and Louis XVI periods. A number of attractive seats bearing his stamp are known.

Literature
Comte François de Salverte, Les Ébénistes du XVIIIe siècle : leurs œuvres et leurs marques, Paris, 1923 (revised editions 1953, 1962), p. [M], s.v. Maucuy
André-Jacob Roubo, L'Art du menuisier, Paris, 1769–1775, pls. relating to the construction and ornament of sièges de commodité