Nicolas Heurtaut (c. 1720-after 1775), master in 1753 (attr. to), Sofa with removable frames, Paris, c. 1753
Molded, carved and re-gilt beech
Purchase, 1955
Inv. 37627
© Les Arts Décoratifs
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This sofa was one of the purchases made in Paris by Prince Louis-René de Rohan to furnish the Paar Palace in Vienna, where he lived from 1772 to 1774 when he was an ambassador to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The design of the sofa – the detail of the asymmetrical shells in particular – resembles the work of the ornamentalist and sculptor Nicolas Pineau (1684-1754), one of the main creators of Rococo forms alongside Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier.