THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY BY JEAN-BAPTISTE I TILLIARD

The excellent quality of the highly sculptural carving of this screen suggests the workshop of a well-established menuisier as a place of manufacture. The heart-shaped cartouche decorating the top of the frame is a hallmark of the Tilliard workshop and was used by both Tilliard father and son. Considered to be among the most talented workshops of the Louis XV era, the Tilliard atelier was founded by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (1685-1766) who worked in conjunction with his brother, Nicholas, until 1750 and his son, Jacques Jean-Baptiste. Tilliard often employed other skilled sculpteurs such as Nicolas Heurtaut, Damien Quintel and Toussaint Foliot to assist with his commissions. In 1728, he was appointed maître menuisier du Garde-Meuble du Roi and his son, Jean-Baptiste II, succeeded him and continued to use his stamp after his retirement in 1766. The Tilliard dynasty received regular royal commissions and provided work for such distinguished clientele as the Prince de Soubise and the Marquise de Pompadour. As noted by F.J.B. Watson, because father and son worked together at the same time and in the same style, this fire screen could have been made by either of them, see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. I, Greenwich, 1966, p. 6. Whether an artistic cooperation between father and son or a creation of just one of them, this lot is a refined product attributable to the Tilliard workshop based on the superb quality of its carving and the distinctive cartouche element.