Chimneypiece

Acquired in the late nineteenth century by Baron Frédéric-Jérôme Pichon (1812–1896), the original provenance of this oak paneling is not known. The baron, a well-known Parisian bibliophile and collector, incorporated the paneling, stripped of its original paint, into the large library that he installed on the first floor of his Paris residence, the Hôtel Lauzun, at 17, quai d’Anjou, on the Ile Saint-Louis. Dating from about 1770, the paneling was not in keeping with the seventeenth-century décor of the Hôtel Lauzun and was dismantled and sold in about 1906.

The three grisaille overdoor paintings in the style of Piat-Joseph Sauvage (1744–1818), the Carrara marble chimneypiece, and its framed overmantel mirror are contemporary with, but not original to, the room. Lacking evidence of the original paint color and finish, a glue-based distemper was chosen for the woodwork in this room in accordance with eighteenth-century techniques.