Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Rare pair of large armchairs with flat backs in solid walnut.
Model decorated with intertwined bundles of ribbons tied together and forming braids on the upper and lower crosspieces and on the top of the legs.
The violin-shaped backrests are connected to nervously treated “whiplash” armrests which rest on small acanthus bases.
The four arched legs ending in slight windings.
Very good state of conservation, without restoration.
Beautiful quality of very dense walnut.
The two armchairs stamped “Nogaret à Lyon”* on the rear uprights of the backrests.
Work by Pierre Nogaret, Lyon at the end of the Louis XV period around 1765-1770.
Dimensions:
Height: 99 cm; Width: 67 cm; Depth: 56 cm
For a pair of Nogaret armchairs with a similar decor:
Artcurial Paris sale, June 19, 2012, Lot 40 (19,306 euros)
Our opinion :
The pair of armchairs that we present symbolize the quintessence of the Nogaret style.
It is in fact a seasoned master who in the last years of his life gave us seats with pure and very nervous lines which are no longer overloaded with sculptures but which feature a very fine and particularly fluid decoration of sinuous ribbons.
This characteristic decoration of the transition period was created in the years 1765-1770, which demonstrates the advance of the great master who did not follow but made fashion.
The purity of the line, the fluidity of the decor, the impeccable quality of the assemblies and the incredible finesse of the sculpture of our seats attest to its status as the best carpenter in the Province.
We can easily add that he far surpassed many of his Parisian colleagues.
This ribbon decoration was a great success in Lyon, particularly with the weavers of the city of Gauls, but it will be marketed as far as the shores of the Mediterranean.
Many followers from Lyon such as Canot, Cheneaux, Geny, Lapierre or from Provence like Pillot continued the work of the master by producing armchairs decorated with ribbons until the revolution.
Our pair of seats is important in the corpus of Pierre Nogaret because it is the source of this so-called Lyonnais style and it probably constitutes one of the last works of the great master.
*Pierre NOGARET (1718-1771), received master carpenter in Lyon in June 1745.
Pierre Nogaret, famous Master of provincial sieges, stamped “Nogaret A Lyon”. It is in Lyon that this Parisian chose to settle. A seat by him can be recognized at a single glance: a subtle play of curves and counter-curves, a typical, very flared armrest, a whiplash console, a play of moldings. Balance and nervousness, elegance and movement, are the terms that come up most often to define his style. Finally, impeccable quality, in the construction, in the choice of species and the care given to the connecting elements ensure 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.
