A Louis XV five-legged desk armchair by E Meunier 18th centiry circa 1740.

Louis XV desk armchair with five legs of arched gondola form in molded, carved and dark encaustic beech wood by Etienne Meunier. With its curved gondola shape, it is as enveloping as it is harmonious. The woodwork of the backrest runs in a single stream to the armrests so that it seems to continue all around the seat. The back and seat are darkened with cane. The base is made of five curved feet with a curve that progressively tapers and is punctuated with acanthus leaf scrolls. This armchair is decorated with a cognac morocco tile (cushion). This very rare cabinet seat is a real technical evolution; remarkable model, as atypical as comfortable, presents an innovation; it is carried by five feet, a system that ensures a perfect support. The axial implementation of a conventional base providing a certain instability, for a seat devoted to an intensive use of writing, Etienne Meunier who appears to be the creator brought an ingenious evolution to him. This ingenious technical invention consists in the addition of an additional foot implanted in the front of the belt in its median part while preserving a generous size. The usual layout of the square base is preserved, but a fifth leg is added to the front of the belt in its middle section; the user can thus place his legs on either side of it and thus ensure perfect stability, even when leaning forward for writing purposes. The stamp of Etienne Meunier was stamped on the rear crossbar. It follows from this most avant-garde seat very representative of the first period of the reign of Louis XV; a notion of fluidity all in curves and counter curves where everything is only delicacy, balance, nervousness, elegance and quality so soft to the eye. It is to note the great care brought to the elements of connection of an irreproachable quality. Dimensions: Height 89.5cm, seat height with cushion 48.5cm, without cushion 44cm, inside back height 46.5cm without cushion. Width at the cuffs and shoulder of the legs 63cm. Depth: of seat 54.5cm. It should be noted that a squaring of maintenance was lavished in order to palliate the slight swaying of use without untangling the shaft. This one has been treated, cleaned and polished. Etienne Meunier was the first and certainly the most famous of a dynasty of Parisian carpenters. Towards the middle of the 18th century, he worked on the rue de Cléry for fashionable merchants such as Pierre Migeon and Etienne Igou. All the Louis XV seats bearing his stamp are of a very high quality. He produced bergères, armchairs of various shapes, light and elegant, chairs with sober and well studied lines, a large number of beds of rest, but the office chair appears to be his great specialty. Most of these armchairs are classic, with circular seats covered with leather or upholstered with cane, whose belt rests on a foot located in front. Etienne Meunier was probably one of the creators of this model. The decoration is discreet and the sculptures, of a great finesse but not very abundant and not very varied, were often limited to a flower framed by some leaves. His workshop, still mentioned in 1770, was perhaps kept by his widow until the end of the reign of Louis XV. Many collections and museums hold chairs from his production; a Louis XV office chair and a Louis XV armchair with a cane queen are presented at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Another Louis XV caned office chair, in gilded carved wood, is in the Jacquemart-André in Paris. The Louvre Museum has a Louis XV cabinet armchair in painted beech, circa 1750. The Rijksmusum in Amsterdam has a superb Louis XV caned desk chair with a median foot, in rosewood and violet wood veneer, or a Louis XV desk chair in carved wood at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Strasbourg.