Ensemble of six Louis XV fauteuils à la Reine

An ensemble of six very large straight-backed armchairs, a style also known as à la Reine (in the Queen’s manner). The chairs are symmetrical in form, but their ornamentation reflects a pure Louis XV style that expresses itself in a graceful elegance, forming a powerful and flowing whole without ever veering into the bombastic. The bold, deeply sculpted carving is clear evidence that these armchairs were made by a highly artistic and skilled menuisier (joiner). Taken together, the choice of ornamentation and the quality of the carving allow these chairs to be attributed to the Parisian menuisier Jean Gourdin (ca. 1690-1764).

Jean Gourdin, better known as Gourdin père (i.e. the Elder), was a distinguished menuisier who worked in Paris between 1737 and 1763. In his workshop on Rue de Clery, he produced seating furniture of exceedingly high quality, with voluptuous lines and exuberant, highly refined carved ornamentation. This unmistakeable level of quality also characterises the oeuvres of his two sons, Jean-Baptiste and Michel. Popular belief has it that he chose the epithet “père” to distinguish his own superior pieces from those of his sons, but it is in fact much more likely that he only began using this designation to differentiate between the three family marks after his son Jean-Baptiste became a master in 1748. Gourdin worked until 1763, and died one year later.

The term fauteuil à la Reine emerged during the first half of the eighteenth century to describe a type of armchair that became fashionable thanks to Queen Marie Leczinska (1703 - 1768), wife to Louis XV. The fauteuil à la Reine is a chair in the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles characterised by a flat backrest, making it ideal for placement along walls. The model differs from the convertible armchair, which has a concave rear and a lighter build that allows it to be placed and moved around as desired. With their hefty dimensions, fauteuils à la Reine were not intended to be moved, but were instead meant to have a fixed place in a room.
This type of armchair was designed to fit the female silhouette, so that ladies could sit more easily in their voluminous dresses: more open armrests, curved armrest sleeves, a wider seat, and padded sides and backrest for enhanced comfort.

Origin and period

Albrecht Neuhaus, Würzburg, there purchased by; Private collection, Germany, 1977

Ensemble of six Louis XV fauteuils à la Reine

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