Louis Cresson

During the Eighteenth Century the Cresson family produced a remarkable number of furniture makers (the general consensus is that there were at least ten members of the family who produced furniture). One of the most prominent Cressons was Louis (I) Cresson. Born in 1706, Louis became a master furniture maker in 1738. He opened up a shop in the rue de Cléry under the sign of The picture of Saint-Louis. During his career he often worked for aristocracy, including Prince de Mérodé-Grimberghen, the Duc d'Orléans, and the Prince de Condé. He also credited with making a sort of "go-cart" or invalid's chair for the young crippled Duc de Bourgogne. When he died in 1761, his younger brother Michel (another prominent Cresson furniture maker - born 1709, master 1740, died 1781) took over his clientele and continued the workshop.

Stylistically, pieces of furniture produced by the Cresson family are so similar to each other that without a signature, it is almost impossible to credit one of them with any real conviction. Typically, unsigned pieces are described as "Louis XV Cresson". Louis signed his pieces with a simple "L Cresson". His pieces are often described as sumptuous, rich with detail, having graceful lines, and being "florid without excess, sinuous without tameness".

Sources

• Librarie Hachette. French Cabinetmakers of the Eighteenth Century. New York: French and European Publications Inc, 1965.
• Remington, Preston. "Signed French Chairs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Metropolitan Museum Studies 2. 1 (1929), 65-75, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1522758. (accessed June 6, 2010).
• The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts. 1, Gordon Campbell. Oxford University Press, 2006.