Lot Essay
With carved fasces, lion's masks and hairy leg and paw feet, this settee epitomizes the penchant for ancient Roman design in the late-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. European designers and craftsmen had looked to antiquity for inspiration since the Renaissance, yet, after the archeological discoveries at Herculaneum in 1738 followed by those in Egypt and Italy in the 1790s, the fashion for ancient design was revived with particular vigor during the Empire era. American furniture makers soon learned of the latest style through the published designs of Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, Pierre de la Mesangere, Thomas Hope and George Smith and embellished their products with motifs similar to the carved details on this settee.
The best-known American cabinetmaker of the era, Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), along with Charles-Honore Lannuier (1779-1819; see lots 426 and 428), dominated New York's furniture production in the early nineteenth century. With such success, Phyfe exported his wares all over the country. Based upon similarities to furniture firmly linked Phyfe, this settee can be attributed to his shop. Three Phyfe-documented caned settees of the same form survive. They are as follows: one made for Thomas Cornell Pearsall and now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; one made for Nathaniel Prime and now in the collection of Boscobel Restorations, Inc; one made for James Lefferts Brinckerhoff in 1816 and now in a private collection (see Marshall B. Davidson and Elizabeth Stillinger, The American Wing: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), p.71; Berry B. Tracy, Federal Furniture and Decorative Arts at Boscobel (New York, 1981), fig.10; Jeanne Vibert Sloane, "A Duncan Phyfe Bill and the Furniture It Documents," Antiques (May 1987), pp.1106-1113). Like the settee offered here, each of these has a three-panelled back, an outscrolling crestrail and armrests and reeded arm supports and front rail. However, their supports vary; the former two are supported by a double-curule base and the latter on winged hairy legs and animal paw feet.
Beyond the general form, details in the carved and applied decoration strengthen the attribution to Phyfe's shop. The applied and probably originally gilded lion heads are rare features. Similar lion heads decorate a pianoforte case now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art whose works were made by John Geib & Son; the case is attributed to Phyfe, as John Geib, Jr. is known to have worked in Phyfe's shop. Applied lion heads also appear on the center of the curule bases on the Pearsall and Prime settees. Also, the carved central panel of double cornucopiae is related to panels on the Pearsall and Prime settees; all three examples are of a different design, and as the latter two are firmly linked to Phyfe, this variance suggests the work of different carvers employed in his shop. Carved fasces on the outer panels of the crestrail are found on a caned Federal settee, a sofa and a pair of chairs attributed to Phyfe (see V. Isabelle Miller, Furniture by New York Cabinetmakers 1650 to 1860 (New York, 1956), cat. 114, pp.70-71; Sotheby's New York, 19 October 1996, lot 216 and Sack, vol. 8, P5555, p.2134); like the cornucopiae panels, these also differ in design.
This settee is one of four caned examples known with outward-facing hairy legs and dog paw feet surmounted by oval cartouches with applied lion heads. The example now in the collection of the Department of State Diplomatic Rooms bears identical crestrail carving and is in all likelihood the mate to the settee offered here (fig.2). Other details clearly indicate that both were carved by the same hand; for example, each settee has acanthus-leaf carving embellished with four triangular notches at the top of each stem. The two other settees of the same general design are nearly identical to each other (see fig.3; the other sold in these Rooms, The Collection of Dr. C. Ray Franklin, 13 October, 1984, lot 458). These have outer crestrail panels carved with paired swags, rather than fasces, and the stem on the acanthus-leaf carving is detailed with an incised and tapering triangle, instead of four notches. However, minute differences between these latter examples suggest that they were not made as a pair; one has the rims of the cornucopiae shaped in a "C" curve and traditional convex-concave acanthus-leaf carving on the legs whereas the other has "S" shaped cornucopiae rims and leg carving resembling oak leaves.
The best-known American cabinetmaker of the era, Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), along with Charles-Honore Lannuier (1779-1819; see lots 426 and 428), dominated New York's furniture production in the early nineteenth century. With such success, Phyfe exported his wares all over the country. Based upon similarities to furniture firmly linked Phyfe, this settee can be attributed to his shop. Three Phyfe-documented caned settees of the same form survive. They are as follows: one made for Thomas Cornell Pearsall and now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; one made for Nathaniel Prime and now in the collection of Boscobel Restorations, Inc; one made for James Lefferts Brinckerhoff in 1816 and now in a private collection (see Marshall B. Davidson and Elizabeth Stillinger, The American Wing: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), p.71; Berry B. Tracy, Federal Furniture and Decorative Arts at Boscobel (New York, 1981), fig.10; Jeanne Vibert Sloane, "A Duncan Phyfe Bill and the Furniture It Documents," Antiques (May 1987), pp.1106-1113). Like the settee offered here, each of these has a three-panelled back, an outscrolling crestrail and armrests and reeded arm supports and front rail. However, their supports vary; the former two are supported by a double-curule base and the latter on winged hairy legs and animal paw feet.
Beyond the general form, details in the carved and applied decoration strengthen the attribution to Phyfe's shop. The applied and probably originally gilded lion heads are rare features. Similar lion heads decorate a pianoforte case now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art whose works were made by John Geib & Son; the case is attributed to Phyfe, as John Geib, Jr. is known to have worked in Phyfe's shop. Applied lion heads also appear on the center of the curule bases on the Pearsall and Prime settees. Also, the carved central panel of double cornucopiae is related to panels on the Pearsall and Prime settees; all three examples are of a different design, and as the latter two are firmly linked to Phyfe, this variance suggests the work of different carvers employed in his shop. Carved fasces on the outer panels of the crestrail are found on a caned Federal settee, a sofa and a pair of chairs attributed to Phyfe (see V. Isabelle Miller, Furniture by New York Cabinetmakers 1650 to 1860 (New York, 1956), cat. 114, pp.70-71; Sotheby's New York, 19 October 1996, lot 216 and Sack, vol. 8, P5555, p.2134); like the cornucopiae panels, these also differ in design.
This settee is one of four caned examples known with outward-facing hairy legs and dog paw feet surmounted by oval cartouches with applied lion heads. The example now in the collection of the Department of State Diplomatic Rooms bears identical crestrail carving and is in all likelihood the mate to the settee offered here (fig.2). Other details clearly indicate that both were carved by the same hand; for example, each settee has acanthus-leaf carving embellished with four triangular notches at the top of each stem. The two other settees of the same general design are nearly identical to each other (see fig.3; the other sold in these Rooms, The Collection of Dr. C. Ray Franklin, 13 October, 1984, lot 458). These have outer crestrail panels carved with paired swags, rather than fasces, and the stem on the acanthus-leaf carving is detailed with an incised and tapering triangle, instead of four notches. However, minute differences between these latter examples suggest that they were not made as a pair; one has the rims of the cornucopiae shaped in a "C" curve and traditional convex-concave acanthus-leaf carving on the legs whereas the other has "S" shaped cornucopiae rims and leg carving resembling oak leaves.