Frame estampille, P.F. Milet

Frame estampillé P. F. MILET

France, Paris c.1770, transitional style frame with neo-classical lambs tongue and bead and reel inner mouldings in the antique taste or goût Grècque, with serpentine back edge and top rail terminating in C-scrolls at pronounced centres and corners of leafy cartouches all linked by garlands of acanthus leaves and flowers. Estampillé – P. F. MILET JME. The ornament has been re-worked in the gesso by the repareur to emphasise the drawing of the carver, rather than embellishing the leaf, as in earlier periods. The gold is pale lemon in colour and cool in tone, which was the fashion at the time. The contrast of the matt and burnished gilding emphasises the ornament of the frame. Carved oak back frame, of mitred and keyed construction with the upper parts carved in lime. Sight size: 33 x 22 ½ inches. Section width: 8 inches

French picture frames cannot easily be identified to particular makers, as until the middle of the 18th century craftsmen did not usually mark their work in any way. It was the continuing conflict between the rights of the menuisiers (carpenters) and sculpteurs (carvers) that brought about the practice of ‘stamping’ frames, as a result of which we are able to identify the maker of this late Louis XV frame as P. F. Milet.

            The training for an ébéniste took six years as an apprenti and three as a compagnon in the workshop of a maître menuisier, after which they had to produce a chef d’oeuvre (masterpiece) to demonstrate their ability. It was only after the payment of a large fee, which could take several years, that craftsmen were able to register as a maître and receive their letters of patent that permitted them to stamp their work.

            It was a nine year training for a sculpteur en bois, in the workshop of a maître- sculpteur. They worked for five years as apprenti, and four as a compagnon before producing a masterpiece to demonstrate their abilities as a sculpteur. Fees had to be paid to the Académie de Saint-Luc, which again could take several years, before they could work independently. The Académie de Saint-Luc was set up in 1705 as a school for the guild of painters and sculptors.

Menuisiers had been allowed both to make and carve their own work since the writing of the guild charters in 1645, though under guild rules sculpteurs were not allowed to carry out the necessary cabinet work in making a frame. The situation was exacerbated when in March 1744 Louis XV awarded the menuisiers – ébénistes their patent letters. These statutes were registered on 20th August 1751 but were opposed by the sculpteurs who were finally given the exclusive right to carve.

            By their separation the two trades became dependant on each other. However the Académie de Saint-Luc did not have the power of the guild to enforce the rule that ébénistes could not carve their own work. In contrast the guild of menuisiers – ébénistes was most effective in ensuring that sculpteurs did not make the backing for their own frames, imposing a heavy fine and confiscating the work if they did. As the craft of running the mouldings for frames was, with the advent of straighter neo-classical mouldings, becoming less distinct from the work of the sculpteur, some frame makers, of whom P. F. Milet was one, joined both guilds enabling them to execute a frame in its entirety.

Because the Académie de Saint-Luc did not have its own stamp, members of the menuisiers – ébénistes were required to stamp their pieces with their name, thus identifying the workshop in which they were made. There were exceptions, for instance only one of a set was required to be stamped. In 1750 the guild of menuisiers – ébénistes reinstituted the 17th century practice of visiting members; workshops to regulate the quality of craftsmanship. The jurande was made up of seven maîtres who were elected by the guild and who had been members for at least ten years. Inspected pieces were stamped JME if the met the guild’s standard of craftsmanship and if not they remained unstamped, were confiscated and a fine of 20 livres per item was levied. Since inspections only occurred every few months not every piece leaving a workshop would be stamped JME.

Pierre-Francois Milet
Académie de Saint-Luc, 12th November 1760
Maître-menuisier, 5th October 1767
Resident rue Sainte-Marguerite, Fauborg St Antoine, a district of furniture makers.
In the second half of the 18th century the frame makers Jean Chérin and Étienne-Louis Infroit also lived and worked in the parish of Sainte-Marguerite. They too were members of the Académie de Saint-Luc and guild members of the menuisiers – ébénistes.

Bibiliography

Harden, Edgar ‘Frame making in 18th Century Paris: The Lives and Work of the Infroits and Cherins’, thesis, The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, 1998

Considine, Brian, B Gilders Art in 18th Century France Gilded Wood, Conservation and History, Madison, Conn. Sound View Press, 1991

Bellaigue, Geoffrey de Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes: The James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1974

Nobele, F. de Les Ebénistes du XVIII siècle, Paris, 1985

The author is grateful to Edgar Harden for information used in preparation for this article.

Michael Gregory