Series of four walnut armchairs by Pierre Nogaret circa 1770

Rare series of four very large armchairs with flat solid walnut backs.
Model decorated with interlaced bundles of ribbons tied together by loops on the high and low cross members and on the top of the feet.
The violin-shaped backs, the armrests nervously treated as a "whip" rest on acanthus bases.
Arched feet ending in light windings.

Very good state of conservation, without restoration.

Beautiful quality of very dense walnut.

"Mr Delagarde" labels on the back of the crossbars, an armchair numbered "9" with a brush and engraved "IX" under the interior crosspiece.

Three armchairs stamped "Nogaret à Lyon" * on the rear crosspieces of the backrests.

Work done by Pierre Nogaret in Lyon around 1770 for Victor Scipion Charles Auguste de la Garde de Chambonnas (1750-1830), Marquis du Chambonas and future Minister of Foreign Affairs of Louis XVI.

Provenance: Château du Chambonas (Ardèche)

Dimensions:

Height: 101 cm; Width: 83 cm; Depth: 70 cm

* Pierre NOGARET (1718-1771), received Master carpenter in Lyon in June 1745.

Pierre Nogaret, famous Master in provincial offices, stamped “Nogaret A Lyon”. It is in Lyon that this Parisian chooses to settle. A seat in his hand is recognizable at a single glance: a subtle play of curves and counter-curves, a typical armrest, very flared, a whip console, a set of moldings. Balance and nervousness, elegance and movement, are the terms that come up most often to define his style. Lastly, irreproachable quality, in the construction, in the choice of species and the care taken in the connecting elements make that its productions stand up well to the tests of time. The influence of Tilliard and Cresson, one for the line, the other for the sculpture, proves that Nogaret mastered the know-how of the Parisian masters.

Our opinion :
The four seats that we present are part of a prestigious and important order made to Pierre Nogaret by Victor Charles Auguste of the Guard of Chambonas for the living room of his castle of Chambonas in Ardèche.
Twelve armchairs with similar flat backs are identified from this order, six of which were formerly in our collection, as well as several convertible chairs and armchairs.
The upholsterers' labels on these armchairs, "Mr Delagarde" and "Mq de Chambonas" refer us to Victor Scipion Charles, a very prominent nobility figure who accepted the revolution and became Louis XVI's foreign minister during the revolution.
The living room furniture probably remained at the chateau until the 1920s and the family's extinction with the last Marquis Guy de la Garde du Chambonas, who died
for France, without heir on May 30, 1918.
For this commission, Pierre Nogaret, at the height of his art, signs one of his finest productions, with particularly wide seats (83 cm), with very nervous lines displaying a sculpture of the greatest finesse with raised hands.