Attribué à NICOLAS PINEAU (1684 - 1754) Lot n° 78

GARDEN Paris, Louis XV period GILDED AND SILVERED WOOD H. 188 CM, W.72 CM, D.37 CM Provenance : Château d'Asnières Gismondi Gallery Biennale des Antiquaires Paris Collection Bibliographical reference : Bruno Pons, Grands décors français 1650/1800, Dijon, 1995, p. 269 - 282 The richly carved giltwood jardinière was originally part of a more complex set of panelling for a reception room in the Château d'Asnières, and the mark still remains in the panelling. Trapezoidal in shape, it emerges from an abundance of foliage resting on a plant shaft. The background is adorned with a hunting scene where a dog holds a bird in its mouth that it has just caught. This episode is set on a rocky, leafy mound in the image of marshy landscapes suitable for hunting. The whole piece rests on a rectangular base. This subject was also taken up by painters specialising in hunting scenes, such as Jacques-Charles Oudry (1720 - 1778). There are certain similarities in the treatment of the dog holding the struggling duck in its mouth with a painting by the painter in 1753 (fig. 1). The same animal figures can be found on the woodwork done for the Château d'Asnières around 1750. Owned by the Marquis de Voyer (1722 - 1782), son of the Comte d'Argenson, this estate was to be considered a pleasure house (fig.2). Under the direction of Jacques Hardouin-Mansart, known as Mansart de Sagonne, the interior decorations were designed by Nicolas Pinneau (1684 - 1754) and his son Dominique Pinneau (1718 - 1786). The decoration of the Grand Salon focuses on the theme of hunting. Dogs and game of all kinds (partridges, hares, hens, pheasants), worked in relief and even in the round, populate the woodwork with asymmetry, undulation and plant overload (fig.3). The Château d'Asnières was dismantled at the end of the 19th century and the woodwork sold separately. Those of the Grand Salon were acquired to furnish Cliveden Castle in Great Britain. Adapted to their new architecture, they were recut and some of the elements left for other horizons.