Antoine Gaudreau

Who was Antoine Gaudreau?

Antoine-Robert Gaudreau was a Parisian ébéniste who was appointed Ébéniste du Roi and was the principal supplier of furniture for the royal châteaux during the early years of Louis XV's reign. He is largely known through the copious documentation of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne; he entered the service of the Garde-Meuble in 1726. However, since his career was spent before the practice of stamping Paris-made furniture began, no stamped piece by Gaudreau exists and few identifications have been made, with the exception of royal pieces that were so ambitious and distinctive that they can be recognized from their meticulous inventory descriptions.

In one case, the identification of a royal commode permits the attribution to Gaudreau of several similar ones. The commode in question, formerly in the collection of Alphonse de Rothschild, was delivered by Gaudreau on 4 August 1738 intended for the King's bedroom at Château La Muette. The gilt-bronze mounts, by which André Bouthemy attributed the commode to Charles Cressent, who may have been responsible for modelling them.