Louis-François Chatard Et Les Peintres Doreurs Du Garde-Meuble De La Couronne Sous Louis Xvi

The painters and gilders of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne participated in the creation of the most beautiful seats of the 18th century. Their work illustrates the diversity and excellence of the crafts that made Paris famous at the end of the 18th century. Their work brings finish and brilliance to the wood decorations after the work of the carpenter and sculptor, which they enhance. Fragile and volatile, called upon to be renewed frequently, the works of these craftsmen have for the most part disappeared.

Painter, gilder and perfumer, Louis-François Chatard was the most important of these craftsmen under Louis XVI from 1784-1785, at a time of major changes in the administration of the Garde-meuble.

This book allows us to discover a profession and know-how, as well as those who practiced it with excellence, while illustrating the changes in the guilds and crafts in Paris on the eve of the Revolution. Centred around Chatard, this study includes several chapters devoted to his colleagues, the Bardou, Charles Chaise and his sons, François Guintrange, Julliac, Dutens and Houet, and concludes with two more general parts, one devoted to the art of the gilding painter, the second to the work of the painters and gilders of the Garde-meuble de la couronne.