A Louis XV Five-legged Desk Armchair By Etienne Meunier Circa 1740.

Exceptional Louis XV office armchair with five curved gondola legs in molded beech wood, carved and dark encausticized with cane by Etienne Meunier. With its curved gondola shape, it is just as enveloping as it is harmonious. The woodwork of its back runs in a single jet, up to the armrests so that it seems to continue all around the seat. Backrest and seat are dark cane. The base is made up of five arched legs with a gradually tapering curve punctuated with scrolls raised with acanthus leaves. This armchair is decorated with a tile (cushion) of cognac morocco. This extremely rare cabinet seat is a true technical evolution; remarkable model, just as atypical as it is comfortable, presents an innovation; it is carried by five feet, a system which ensures perfect support. The axial implantation of a conventional base providing a certain instability, for a chair devoted to intensive use of writing, Etienne Meunier who appears to be the creator brought it an ingenious evolution. This ingenious and very innovative technical invention consists in adding an additional foot located at the front of the belt in its middle part while preserving a generous size. The usual implantation of the base arranged in a square is therefore preserved but a fifth foot is implanted there at the front of the belt in its middle part; the user can in this way have his legs on either side of it and in fact ensure perfect stability even durably leaning forward for the purpose of writing. Etienne Meunier's stamp was stamped on the rear crosspiece. It stems 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 against curves where everything is only delicacy, balance, nervousness, elegance and quality so sweet to the eye. It is worth noting the great care given to the linking elements of irreproachable quality. Dimensions: Height 89.5cm, seat height with cushion 48.5cm, without cushion 44cm, interior height of the backrest 46.5cm without cushion. Width at the cuffs and at the shoulder of the feet 63cm. Depth: of seat 54.5cm. It should be noted that a maintenance squaring has been carried out in order to compensate for the slight swaying of use without undocking the barrel. This one has been treated, cleaned and waxed. Étienne Meunier was the first and certainly the most famous of a dynasty of Parisian carpenters. Towards the middle of the 18th century, he officiated in rue de Cléry and worked for fashionable merchants such as Pierre Migeon and Étienne Igou. All Louis XV seats, bearing his stamp, are of very good quality. He produced bergères, armchairs in various shapes, light and elegant, chairs with sober and well studied lines, a large number of daybeds, but the office armchair appears to be his great specialty. Most of these armchairs are classic, with circular seats covered in leather or upholstered in cane, whose belt rests on a foot located in front. Étienne Meunier was probably one of the creators of this model. The decoration is discreet and the sculptures, of great finesse but scarce and not very varied, were often limited to a flower framed by a few leaves. His workshop, mentioned again in 1770, was perhaps kept by his widow until the end of the reign of Louis XV. Numerous collections and museums hold seats of its production; a Louis XV desk chair and a Louis XV caned queen chair are on display at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Another caned Louis XV desk chair, in carved gilded wood at Jacquemart-André in Paris. The Louvre Museum owns a Louis XV cabinet armchair in painted beech, around 1750. The Rijksmusum in Amsterdam has a superb Louis XV caned office armchair with a median foot, in rosewood veneer and violet wood or even an armchair XV desk in carved wood at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. General conditions of sale and delivery: The price indicated on the advertisement includes delivery throughout metropolitan France. For Germany, Belgium, Italy or Spain contact us for a quote. For the United States, Europe outside the Community or the rest of the world contact us for a quote but the import taxes applicable in each country remain your responsibility. Packaging and transport monitoring are provided by professional carriers specializing in Works of Art or by Chronopost.