Late 18th Century Provençal Sectional Chaise Longue w/ Vibrant Toile de Nantes Upholstery

An exceptional Provençal chaise longue brisée, late 18th century, composed of a rush-seated bergère joined to a matching extension to form a generous daybed. The carved and turned frame retains a soft celadon-green paint, worn and mellowed with age, its gentle weathering accentuating the contours of the scalloped crest rail, scrolled arms with padded rests, serpentine apron, and turned legs united by stretchers. The rush seats remain in fine order, and the whole presents with a graceful silhouette of both substance and charm. Cushions and mattress pads are covered in early 19th-century Toile de Nantes, a lively copperplate print of pastoral scenes and foliage in vibrant red, secured with ribbon ties. The color has retained much of its freshness and brightness, adding to the piece’s charm and decorative impact.

Conceived in France as a modular form of repose, the chaise longue brisée married comfort and elegance by extending a bergère into a daybed. In Provence, ateliers translated the Louis XV vocabulary into robust local forms, combining curving backs and aprons with sturdy turned joinery and rush seating, practical for a southern climate. The celadon finish, rooted in verdigris pigments, was a favored provincial tone, harmonizing with stone floors and limewashed walls. The Toile de Nantes upholstery reflects the flowering of French cotton printing in the early 19th century, its fine copperplate detail and bucolic imagery carrying the romance of the countryside into the home.

Inviting in scale and refined in presence, this chaise longue lends relaxed elegance to a bedroom, library, or garden room. Its gentle hues of celadon and red enliven a setting with warmth and character, whether placed beneath a window with terracotta floors, beside a guéridon and reading lamp, or within a country French interior layered with natural textures and soft linens.