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TEN SHADES OF GREY

We have for offer ten pieces of grey painted furniture in a myriad of shades of grey. It was a popular color in the late 18th century and again in the 20th century, thanks to Billy Baldwin.

Initially, this quiet muted color was chosen as a reaction against bolder, stronger color choices on furniture and interiors. The earliest recollection of a French grey painted interior with similar furniture is in the Petit Trianon. Created in 1760 for one of Louis XV mistresses, it was later given to Marie Antoinette. She used it as an escape from the formality of court life. The use of grey was a reaction against the previous highly polychromatic and floral rococo period.

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Lot 746, Fine Italian Neoclassical Painted Console Table
This muted color reflects the quiet refinement of neoclassicism. The use of a more muted palette during the late 18th century was widely used throughout Europe, especially in the Scandinavian countries. In the 20th century, the most famous use of grey was used in the dressing rooms of Christian Dior in Paris, known as “Dior Grey”.

Lot 746 in our March 14-15th sale is the epitome of French restrained classical sophistication albeit an Italian form.

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