Antoine Gaudreau
Encyclopedia
Antoine-Robert Gaudreau was a Paris
ian ébéniste
who was appointed Ébéniste du Roi and was the principal supplier of furniture for the royal châteaux during the early years of Louis XV
's reign. He is largely known through the copious documentation of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne; he entered the service of the Garde-Meuble in 1726. However, since his career was spent before the practice of stamping Paris-made furniture began (1751), no stamped piece by Gaudreau exists and few identifications have been made, with the exception of royal pieces that were so ambitious and distinctive that they can be recognized from their meticulous inventory descriptions.
In one case, the identification of a royal commode permits the attribution to
gaudreau of several similar ones. The commode in question was delivered by Gaudreau on 4 August 1738 intended for the King's bedroom at Château La Muette, formerly in the collection of Alphonse de Rothschild. The gilt-bronze mounts, by which André Bouthemy attributed the commode to Charles Cressent
, who may have been responsible for modelling them. Several commodes following this model exist, including on in the Jones Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum
, London. One of the group bears on its gilt-bronze mounts the crowned C tax stamp that was used in 1745-49, suggesting that the model remained current for several years.
The first French reference to a table servante, a dumb waiter or tiered serving table with recesses for cooling wine for suppers free of protocol and servants, occurs in a bill of Gaudreau in 1735, of furniture delivered to Versailles
.
His premises were in rue Princesse, apart from the cabinet-making neighborhoods of Paris. He was elected syndic
of the cabinet-makers' guild, the Corporation des Menuisiers-Ébénistes
in 1744.
He was succeeded in his workshop, for a brief time, by his son François-Antoine Gaudreau (died 1751), also Ébéniste du Roi.
His most famous pieces are:
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian ébéniste
Ébéniste
Ébéniste is the French word for a cabinetmaker, whereas in French menuisier denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker. The English equivalent for "ébéniste," "ebonist," is never commonly used. Originally, an ébéniste was one who worked with ebony, a favoured luxury wood for mid-seventeenth century...
who was appointed Ébéniste du Roi and was the principal supplier of furniture for the royal châteaux during the early years of Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
's reign. He is largely known through the copious documentation of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne; he entered the service of the Garde-Meuble in 1726. However, since his career was spent before the practice of stamping Paris-made furniture began (1751), no stamped piece by Gaudreau exists and few identifications have been made, with the exception of royal pieces that were so ambitious and distinctive that they can be recognized from their meticulous inventory descriptions.
In one case, the identification of a royal commode permits the attribution to
gaudreau of several similar ones. The commode in question was delivered by Gaudreau on 4 August 1738 intended for the King's bedroom at Château La Muette, formerly in the collection of Alphonse de Rothschild. The gilt-bronze mounts, by which André Bouthemy attributed the commode to Charles Cressent
Charles Cressent
Charles Cressent was a French furniture-maker, sculptor and fondeur-ciseleur of the régence style. As the second son of François Cressent, sculpteur du roi, and grandson of Charles Cressent, a furniture-maker of Amiens, who also became a sculptor, he inherited the tastes and aptitudes which were...
, who may have been responsible for modelling them. Several commodes following this model exist, including on in the Jones Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, London. One of the group bears on its gilt-bronze mounts the crowned C tax stamp that was used in 1745-49, suggesting that the model remained current for several years.
The first French reference to a table servante, a dumb waiter or tiered serving table with recesses for cooling wine for suppers free of protocol and servants, occurs in a bill of Gaudreau in 1735, of furniture delivered to Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
.
His premises were in rue Princesse, apart from the cabinet-making neighborhoods of Paris. He was elected syndic
Syndic
Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of...
of the cabinet-makers' guild, the Corporation des Menuisiers-Ébénistes
Corporation des Menuisiers-Ébénistes
The Corporation des Menuisiers-Ébénistes was a French craft guild which was concerned with the profession of woodmaking....
in 1744.
He was succeeded in his workshop, for a brief time, by his son François-Antoine Gaudreau (died 1751), also Ébéniste du Roi.
His most famous pieces are:
- The commodeCommodeA commode, commode with legs, or commode on legs is any of several pieces of furniture. The word commode comes from the French word for "convenient" or "suitable", which in turn comes from the Latin adjective commodus, with similar meanings.Originally, in French furniture, a commode introduced...
veneered with kingwood and satiné that he delivered for the King's Bedchamber at Versailles in 1739. It has gilt-bronze mounts by Jacques CaffieriJacques CaffieriJacques Caffieri was a French sculptor, the most famous member of a family distinguished in works of sculpture, working for the most part in bronze.-Life:...
, stamped FAIT PAR CAFFIERI. The commode is now in the Wallace CollectionWallace CollectionThe Wallace Collection is a museum in London, with a world-famous range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with large holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms & armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries.It was established in...
, London (Cat.no. F86). - The commode-médaillier, a medal cabinet in the form of a commode, delivered in 1739 for the king's use in Louis XV's Cabinet à Pans at Versailles. In this commission Gaudreau followed a design provided by the Slodtz brothers.It is in the Cabinet des MédaillesCabinet des MédaillesThe Cabinet des Médailles, more formally known as Département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, is a department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France, housed in its former premises in Rue de Richelieu.The Cabinet des Médailles is a museum...
at the Bibliothèque Nationale. - The low cupboard-bookcase delivered in 1744 for the king's Cabinet d'Angle at Versailles.
- The commode à la Régence delivered for the Dauphine's apartment at the Château de FontainebleauChâteau de FontainebleauThe Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards...
in 1745. It is now at Versailles. - A bureau plat now in the Archives Nationales. (Verlet 1945).