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| Settee French, c. 1870 The Victoria & Albert Museum |
Part of a sumptuous suite which also contains four matching armchairs, this handsome settee represents the clever reproductions of then-already-antique furnishings which were made in the Nineteenth Century in France. The frame is a fairly accurate facsimile of a settee which was made in the 1770s or 1780s by Jean-Baptiste III Lelarge. Lelarge was the third generation of a monumental dynasty of Parisian chair-makers.
The tapestry with which the seat and back panel are upholstered seems to really date from the Eighteenth Century. They were, perhaps, originally made for a suite by Lelarge or one of his kin. The present frames were made to fit. The frame of beech features lovely carving including floral motifs of forget-me-nots. The name of the maker is now lost, it we believe it was made between 1870-1890.
The suite once belonged to Mrs Lyne Stephens who bequeathed the group to The V&A in 1895. Mrs. Stephens was the principal dancer at the Paris Opera from 1831 to 1837. There, she performed under the stage name of Marie-Louise Duvernay. Later in life, she devoted herself to her husband, as well as to religion, philanthropy and collecting fine French Decorative Arts.
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