Jean-Baptiste-Claude SENE Lot n° 34

* ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-BAPTISTE-CLAUDE SENÉ (1748-1803) Master in 1769 EXCEPTIONAL FIREPLACE SCREEN WITH DOUBLE FACING "MERMAID AND TRITON EMBRACED". Louis XVI period, 1787. Wood very richly carved, partly in the round, lacquered white-cream and gilded. H. 124,5 cm L. 93 cm Width of the upright : 11 cm Length of the sides : 32 cm Width of the sides : 16 cm Model with curved hat and skids. Some wear and chips to the lacquer and gilding. Period tapestry, but reported. Cracks on the base decorated with sphinges. Missing a small gilded wooden rose on the right jamb. For the tapestry : slight tears and traces of humidity. For the silk panel : accidents and missing pieces It was probably made by the sculptor Nicolas François Vallois (1738-1788), the painting and the gilding by Louis-François Chatard (1749-1819) under the direction of of Jean Hauré (circa 1742-1816). The skids have a rectangular base, lacquered in light gray, on which is lying a sphinx with an antique is lying on a sphinx whose antique-style garment is held by a ribbon below the chest. The faces are expressive and the hair tied in a bun. The leaves are wide and deep to accommodate the counterweight system. They have the same decoration on both sides: bust of an Egyptian woman wearing a nemesis. This representation under Louis XVI announces the Etruscan style which will be in fashion a few years later under the Consulate. The bust seems to be placed on a beam of colonnettes ending in an arrow, decorated with pearls, acanthus and sprays. The border that frames the two leaves is carved with a frieze of heart-shaped grapes. The side of the uprights is molded to decorate the frame of a frieze of pearls with cups of fruit, arrow etc.. At the top, an oval ring in chased and gilded bronze to facilitate the movement of the screen without risking to damage the sculptures and the gilding. The two sides of the leaves are decorated with a remarkable sculpture in a frame of pearls: a vase with the antique from which escapes a short branching then a flower with two crosses, followed by a stem with foliage connected to a fruit bowl with laurel garland and then, without discontinuity, different branches until a cassolette with two handles in which a long empennée arrow is inserted. Leaves: An Aubusson tapestry in wool and silk silk of Louis XVI period, with for decoration a child and a dog in a laurel medallion on ivory background ivory background in knotted ribbons and garlands of flowers. On the other side a silk painted with gouache and watercolor. Finally the wonderful decoration of the hanger surpasses the one sculpted by Séné for the Queen's cabinet in Saint-Cloud. It is finely sculpted on each side of a of a post race in foliage with acanthus under a frieze of heart-shaped grapes and a second frieze of acanthus. The damping: in high relief, it represents a triton and a mermaid swooning and embracing. They are dressed slightly of a linen tied on the shoulder of the triton and retained in its right hand by the mermaid. An ewer and a cup with pedestal in round bump are with range of hand, to to quench their thirst. The long twists of fish scales extend to the top of the leaves. This chimney screen is in perfect condition. The system to adjust the height of the sliding panel in the grooves in the grooves was stabilized by a counterweight that was formerly integrated in the uprights. Provenance: - Former Wertheimer Collection, Sotheby's sale, London, November 24 and 25, 1988, lot n° 25. Reference: - See the fireplace screen made by Séné at the same time for Queen Marie-Antoinette at the Château de Saint-Cloud and kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New-York (Inventory number 41.205.3a, b). The comparison is not to the detriment of ours. (Fig. 1) Bibliography: - The fabulous world of fireplace screens of the XVIIIth and XIXth. Text by Philippe Guégan, Galerie Flore, reproduced page 12, printed by Dupont Vero-Dodat, no date.