Armchair
René Cresson
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This chair is known in French as a fauteuil à la Reine et à chassis. The first part of this name refers to the fact that it is an armchair with a flat back (as opposed to a concave back). The second part refers to the upholstery which is not nailed into the frame but attached to the removable seat, back, and arm pads. This practice was introduced early during the eighteenth century and allowed for an easy change of seat covers according to the seasons or to reflect new fashions. Although this armchair is not signed, based on the exuberant rocaille decoration of the walnut frame, it is attributed to the menuisier or joiner René Cresson, also known as Cresson l’ainé (the elder) who became a master in 1738. He was a member of a successful family of eighteenth-century chair makers by that name. The wool and silk upholstery panels were woven at the Beauvais Manufactory. This workshop not only specialized in sets of decorative tapestry hangings woven after designs by Jean I Berain, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, François Boucher, among other artists, but also produced matching covers for seat furniture which came increasingly into fashion during the eighteenth century. The ducks on the chair’s back are found in drawings attributed to the artist Oudry or his workshop.
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.