The monochrome Chinese cabinet decorations

Whilst China’s fascination with the imagination reached its peak in^18th-century French decorative arts, it had been developing in France since the founding of the East India Company in 1664, followed by that of the China Company, already arousing the curiosity of the inquisitive. The nobility of the Court owned furniture, lacquered boxes, porcelain, textiles, paintings and other objects from China and Japan. In 1670, Louis XIV decided to build a ‘Trianon de porcelaine’ at Versailles, entirely decorated in the Chinese style. Fantastic Chinese-themed festivities were also organised, during which the king and the court dressed in Chinese attire. During the carnival in February 1700, the newspaper *Le Mercure Galant* reported on the festivities, which began at Marly with a performance entitled ‘The King of China’ and, amongst other events, a few days later, a Chinese-style buffet of unprecedented sumptuousness was served.

In the field of decoration, Antoine Watteau played a major role in popularising the taste for Chinese motifs. Around 1710, he was commissioned by the owner of the Muette hunting lodge – a great collector of porcelain, lacquerware and Asian artefacts – to create part of the décor. Watteau painted Chinese figures there: musicians, doctors, gardeners, eunuchs and women of all social standing. All that remains of this décor—which has since disappeared, having been dismantled as early as the^{18th century}—is a series of thirty prints sold in 1731, engraved by François Boucher, amongst others.

These prints bear a strong resemblance, in terms of their inspiration, to the figures in the monochrome décor of the Champs cabinet, to the extent that some of the motifs can be recognised. One of the twelve plates from the ‘scenes from Chinese life’, for example, features the motif of the chimes found on one of the cabinet’s panels, as well as a scene of fishing or reading. A few scattered elements can thus be found on the wood panelling, suggesting that François Boucher’s scenes must at least have influenced the decorator of this cabinet. These ‘Scenes from Chinese Life’ were, moreover, among the most frequently copied motifs used to decorate fabrics, wallpaper, ceramics, furniture, small objects and the panelling of cabinets throughout Europe.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris holds a monochrome lintel, inspired by a scene from Chinese life by François Boucher, which bears a striking resemblance to the décor of the Champs cabinet, as well as blue-and-white monochrome overdoor panels, on display in the Countess of Mailly’s ‘Blue Apartment’ at the Château de Choisy (Copenhagen, The David Collection), situated near a chest of drawers also finished in a blue monochrome scheme. This inspiration remained vibrant throughout the century, notably through the work of travelling ornamentalists such as Jean Pillement ( , Christie’s, New York, 25 January 2012).

In the absence of more precise information regarding the works commissioned by the Duke of La Vallière for the ‘salon d’assemblée’, mentioned by Dezallier d’Argenville in his *Voyage pittoresque des environs de Paris* ( 1755), the blue monochrome décor that follows it has also been attributed to Christophe Huet, by drawing parallels between this work and the blue monochrome chinoiserie over-door panels preserved at the Hôtel de Matignon, which are attributed to Christophe Huet.

The name of the painter and ornamental artist Alexis Peyrotte has also been put forward, backed by certain arguments. Indeed, the painter, who had arrived in Paris in 1745, created the décor for the theatre in the private apartments at Versailles two years later, under the direction of the Duke of La Vallière. It is likely that the Duke commissioned him in this way for his château at Champs. The stylistic execution is indeed comparable to that which he produced for the Château de Fontainebleau, in a passageway between the Throne Room and the Council Chamber. The furniture commissioned was designed to harmonise with this new décor, so as to create a cohesive whole. The two corner cabinets and the dressing table of the Duchess of La Vallière were thus ‘painted in shades of blue on a white background’, perhaps also by Peyrotte, whose talent extended to furniture design as well.

Emmanuelle Brugerolles (ed.), François Boucher and Rocaille Art in the Collections of the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, 2003–2006.

Nicole Garnier-Pelle; Anne Forray-Carlier; Marie-Christine Anselm, ‘Singeries and Exoticism in the Work of Christophe Huet’, Editions Monelle Hayot, 2010.

Nicole Riche, Laurent Félix, Maria Gordon Smith, Jean Pillement,^18th-century landscape painter (1728–1808), exhibition catalogue, [exhibition] 18 October to 21 December 2003, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Béziers, Béziers, City of Béziers, 2003.

Xavier Salmon, Alexis Peyrotte, 1699–1769, or the Charms of the Rocaille at Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau, Society of Friends and Patrons of the Château de Fontainebleau, 2012.

Renaud Serrette, ‘Boucher’s Children from the Château de Crécy to the Château de Sceaux’, *L’Estampille-L’Objet d’Art*, July–August 2010, pp. 1–8.

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Isabelle Tillerot, *Orient and Ornament*, Paris , Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, German Centre for Art History, 2018.

One of the Provinces of Rococo: François Boucher’s Dream of China, Paris, In Fine Éditions d’Art, 2019.