Adrien-Pierre Dupain, maître in 1772.

These refined chairs are part of a larger ensemble by Dupain, also marked VF, that was probably delivered to Marie Antoinette for either St. Cloud or to the Trianon at Versailles. Part of this suite is currently installed in the Petit Trianon, Versailles, see Pierre Arrizoli-Clementel, Versailles: Furniture of the Royal Palace Vol II, Dijon, 2002, pp. 283-285. This suite comprises a canapé, which is further marked for the Garde Meuble de la Reine, four fauteuils and four chaises. They were sold anonymously at Sotheby's, London, 29 April 1965, lot 146 and were acquired by Versailles that year. A second group was sold thirty years earlier from the collection of Francis Guerault on 16 May 1935, lot 36 and comprised a pair of bergères, six fauteuils (presumably two of which are the offered pair), and two chaises. Though the catalogue notes that Dupain had received royal commissions, it was not until the 1965 sale that the additional mark on the frame of the canapé clearly linked this specific suite to the Garde Meuble de la Reine. As this mark was most often placed on the webbing, it would have disappeared when the chairs were reupholstered. Unfortunately, no inventories for the Garde Meuble de la Reine exist to verify the exact details of this commission. The Queen's inventories were kept privately from those of the king and other members of the Royal family, and St. Cloud was unique among the Royal Chateaux in that it was the Queen's personal property. She purchased it from Philippe, duc d'Orlèans, the younger brother of Louis XVI, in 1784. St. Cloud was originally intended as the temporary home of the Royal court while Versailles was redeveloped. These plans were subsequently abandoned and St. Cloud was used as a summer palace. According to Nicholas de Salverte, Dupain "..obtint des commandes pour des châteaux du Roi, en particulier pour celui de Saint-Cloud. Il fournissait á la même époque de nombreux tapissiers," see François de Salverte, Les Ebènistes du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1923, p.103.

A pair of fauteuils by Dupain with the marks of Marie-Antoinette's Garde-Meuble was exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, in 1882 where it was noted that they belonged to the vicomtesse de Janzé. Another fauteuil stamped Dupain, formerly with Galerie Daniel Duault, Paris, had the mark Saint-Cloud chambre de la Reine and came from Marie-Antoinette's chambre des bains on the ground floor of Saint-Cloud. Although Dupain is not recorded in the archives as one of the menusiers employed by the Garde-meuble royal, the presence of his stamp along with the royal marks on these chairs supports de Salverte's statement that Dupain worked for a Parisian tapissier who then supplied the finished chairs to furnish her private residence. However, descriptions of furniture sold from Versailles in the revolutionary sales could also indicate that this suite was originally placed in the Trianon, the Queen's private residence at Versailles, and specifically in the Maison de la Reine in the Hameau. The carving in these rooms by the sculptor Deschamps, described as with its 'petits perles, de raies-de-coeur et fleurons tailées' matches the elements carved on the Dupain chair frames which would make these chairs and the rest of the suite a logical component of these rooms. Articles 1112, 1119, 1125 and 1126 briefly describe four suites of seat furniture: one comprising a canapé à deux oreilles, six chairs and four banquettes, a second set of eight chairs, two of which with cushions, a third with a canapé, a bergère and twelve chairs and lastly another set with a canapé, four tête á têtes, six fauteuils and twelve chairs. Although the exact composition of the Dupain suite remains unknown, part of it has appeared on the market and is most likely portions of the 1935 Gueralt suite. Four fauteuils, formerly in the collection of Neville Hamwee, Jersey, were illustrated in Partridge Fine Art, Recent Acquisitions, 1986. The pair of bergères was sold anonymously at Sotheby's, Paris, 22 October 2008, lot 98 (€150,750). The present pair of fauteuils could comprise the other two offered in the Guerault sale with the location of the four remaining chaises currently unknown.

Dupain settled on the rue de Charonne on the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and received his maîtrise in 1772. He worked for various tapissiers, such as the Frères Presle in 1787-88, as well as Beury, Prudot, Bertault and Bimule. During the Revolution, Dupain manufactured weapons cases for the Republican army and later returned to chair-making; he was active until 1805. Dupain's distinctive circular mark at times also includes the additional VF stamp either inside it, or nearby. It appears on all of the known pieces of this suite delivered to Marie Antoinette as well as on a set of six fauteuils sold in Partridge, Christie's, New York, 17 May 2006, lot 59, a pair of marquises sold anonymously at Christie's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 806. Although the meaning of the mark is currently unknown, it is thought to be the initials of a carver or apprentice in Dupain's atelier.