CLAUDE-LOUIS BURGAT (1717 - avant 1782, reçu Maître... Lot n° 80

SMALL "OTTOMAN" SOFA FROM THE CHÂTEAU DE CHANTELOUP FRANCE, LOUIS XV PERIOD, CIRCA 1750 -1760 Beech Stamped and marked Château de Chanteloup H. 88 cm, W. 120 cm, D. 78 cm The ottoman we are presenting is a beautiful example of these oval basket-shaped sofas whose side arms are extended at the back by a beautiful rounded and enveloping curve. This comfortable and feminine seat, in vogue during the Louis XV period, was placed in the boudoirs and near the fireplaces of 18th century salons. The name of ottoman was borrowed from the East and represented a society of voluptuous comfort. Thus, in Sébastien Mercier's Tableau de Paris, published in 1782, one can read: "A pretty woman who has vapours does nothing else but drag herself from her bath to her toilet and from her toilet to her ottoman. This seat, which we can date from the years 1750-1760, appears in this form in the work of André-Jacob Roubo, on the Art of carpentry, who attributes its invention to the pure "caprice of the workmen". Claude - Louis Burgat delivers here a high quality version, with a deep and incisive sculpture of ribs and florets. The powerful and supple lines meet each other in curves and counter-curves giving rhythm to the curves of the belt and the back. The Chanteloup castle Located on a ledge of the Loire in front of the Amboise forest, the castle was bought by the Duke of Choiseul in 1761. Noticed by the Marquise de Pompadour, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1758 and then Minister of War and the Navy. He retired to Chanteloup after his disgrace in 1770. At his death, his widow sold it to the Duke of Penthièvre (1725-1793), grandson of Louis XIV and Grand Admiral of France, who acquired it with all the furniture.Following the acquisition of the Château de Chanteloup in 1786 by the Duke of Penthièvre, the Inspector General of the Prince's Houses, Martin Vallet, drew up an inventory of the furniture present in the residence, as he had done for the Duke's other residences: the initials CP (for Chanteloup) were then affixed, separated by an anchor reminding us of the Duke of Penthièvre's functions as Grand Admiral, and surmounted by a royal crown.Most of the furniture came from the previous owner, the Duc de Choiseul. When he acquired Chanteloup in 1761, Choiseul also bought the existing furniture, estimated at 40,000 livres, from the then seller, the daughter of Jean Bouteroue d'Aubigny. Given the style of this ottoman, it is not impossible that it dates from the furnishings of Chanteloup under d'Aubigny, who owned the estate from 1708. But it could also come from another residence of the Duke of Penthievre, such as Sceaux or Châteuneuf, where it is known that some seats were sent to Chanteloup at the end of the 1780s. On the death of the Duke of Penthièvre, his daughter, the Duchess of Orleans, inherited the castle. Her property was seized and sold under the Terror in 1794.