Bergère confessional

The Louis XVI armchair comes from the old collection of the Łańcut castle. Its maker is the carpenter Louis Michel Lefèvre (+1791), who, after receiving his master craftsman certification in 1749, ran his own workshop in Paris, on rue Saint-Nicolas, until 1781. The craftsman could not be counted among the creative designers-inventors of new decorations and kinds of furnishings. He was known as a very reliable maker of comfortable sitting furniture, especially Louis XV- and Louis XVI-style armchairs and chairs (Rococo, Classicism). He also worked as an ébéniste - maker of inlaid cabinets. The presented piece of furniture is a comfortable 'bergère confessional' armchair for relaxation. Deep 'confessional' armchairs with a comfortable back- and headrest became popular towards the end of the 17th c. The younger 'bergère' or 'shepherdess chair', derived from the 'confessional', established itself in interior design in the 18th c. It was a capacious armchair with a rounded backrest suited for dresses with a hoop skirt. Padded with an additional cushion on the seat, the armchair met all the requirements of luxury. Next to the signature "M.LEFEVRE JME", comprised of the maker's initial, his surname, and an abbreviation signifying his master craftsman certification, there are the not quite legible numbers 1776 (or 1770). Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967