Moulded, painted and gilt oak.
PROVENANCE: private collection.
LITERATURE: Gady Bénédicte, Edwards Turner, Gilles François (ed.), Nicolas Pineau (1684-1754), un sculpteur rocaille entre Paris et Saint-Pétersbourg, Paris, Les Arts décoratifs – Le Passage, 2025.
The utterly exceptional nature of this decoration, which displays a very distinctive composition in its remarkably well-preserved original gilding, cannot be overstated. This décor is all the more exceptional given that its author, Nicolas Pineau, was a prolific sculptor, but the bulk of his wood carvings has all but disappeared. If only because of their rarity, this set of wood panelling is therefore a particularly valuable testimony to Nicolas Pineau’s art in that medium.
François Gilles, Art historian and ornamental sculptor
