18th-century French school, follower of Jacques de Lajoüe (1687-1761) Pair of paintings "L'escalier ou élégante compagnie dans un parc" and "Le rendez-vous à la fontaine" Oil on canvas (lined, restorations) 64 x 81 cm and 64 x 80.5 cm in Regency gilded wood frames. The staircase composition is a repeat of a signed painting formerly in the Lagerfeld collection (Lagerfeld sale, Paris, Christie's, May 23, 2000, lot 43), and listed in Marianne Roland-Michel's catalog raisonné (M. Roland-Michel, Lajoüe et l'Art Rocaille, Paris, 1984, p.202, no. P93, pl.5 and fig.102.). A mid-18th-century copy, as a door overlay, can be found at Château de Mauvières, near Dampierre, and the painting was engraved by Charles Courtry around 1860. The rendezvous at the fountain, showing two elegant ladies at the foot of a staircase, recalls motifs dear to the artist in a composition whose original appears to be unknown to this day. Laurent CALES EXPERT.