A French late 16th century walnut 'caquetoire' 1570-1600 The panelled back with a central raised moulded panel carved with two scroll adorned and bead pendant embellished roundels each inset with a rosette, the arms with ring turned columnar terminals, on ring turned front legs and square section rear legs, with plain stretchers, on later squat bun feet, 62.5cm wide; seat depth: 31.5cm; 115cm high. Footnotes: Provenance Formerly with Madame Jacqueline Boccador, Paris. Subsequently acquired by the current owner and vendor. A similar example of a French Renaissance chair of this type, with comparable carving to its splat as that featuring on the back of the present lot, forms part of the furniture at the Frick Collection. It appears illustrated in The Frick Collection, Part V. (Furniture, Italian and French Pt. 1), New York, 1992, pp.'s 168-169. The 'caquetoire' is arguably one of the most recognisable pieces of French Renaissance furniture of all the types which remain to this day. This description derives from the verb caqueter which in English is 'to chat'. Although difficult to specifically translate its original true meaning, it might more accurately be referred to as a 'conversation', or indeed 'gossip', chair. The latter perhaps being a somewhat derogatory reference to historical evidence that suggests this seat furniture was often grouped together for ladies to sit upon and 'chatter' amongst themselves. Clearly the implication being that gossiping was the primary activity of female sitters upon such occasions. The high back, spreading seat (narrow at the rear but comfortably wide to the front) and U-form arms of the offered chair are both recurrent characteristics of 'caquetoires'. They were designed in this distinctive way for the purpose of accommodating full layered skirts and petticoats which were typically worn by affluent and well-to-do women during the latter part of the 16th century. As on the above example, the panelled backs of these chairs more often than not incorporate carving, and it is for that reason they were predominantly made from walnut which is generally better suited to carving than many other timbers. In this particular instance the medallions thereupon are carved with lovely embellishments. The frames of the 'caquetoire' were generally joined by means of mortise and tenon construction instead of being nailed and glued together. Finally, it is important to note that surviving models from this era, particularly those in original unrestored condition, are exceedingly rare. Related literature J. Boccador, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age a la Renaissance (Éditions d'Art Monelle Hayot, Château de Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau, 1988), pp. 298-303, pls. 250-255, esp. pls 254-255 J. Boccador, 'Temple du Temps, qu' un seul soupir résume ...' (JMG, Paris, 2002), p.112, fig. 85 J. Thirion, Le Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en France (Éditions Faton, Dijon, 1998), pp. 143-147 N. de Reyniès, Le Mobilier Domestique (Editions du Patrimoine, Paris, 1987) This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: TP TP For auctions held in Scotland: Please refer to the catalogue and/or after-sale information or contact Edinburgh@Bonhams.com for more information. For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (The Packengers, Unit 9, Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1HU, England, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue and/or after-sale information, sent out to all buyers post-sale. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 10 calendar days from the auction date. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing