Lot Essay
The mark is possibly that of Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister, who, in 1800 married Joachim Murat, King of Naples 1808-1815
Details
A PAIR OF EMPIRE GILTWOOD X-FRAME STOOLS, each with a padded seat with moulded paterae decorated and stop-fluted supports joined by fluted and turned stretchers, centred by a foliate boss with the fleur-de-lys and terminating in foliate feet, marked on the underside with a crowned cypher, Italian -- 34in. (86cm.) wide, 27½in. (70cm.) high, 18½in. (47cm.) deep (2)
Provenance
The Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut
The stools classical or "antique" form is inspired by a "tabouret" illustrated by C Percier and P Fontaine in their Receuil de decorations interieures 1802, pl. no. 39, although the fleur-de-lys displayed here between the thyrsus-like cones feplaces the rosette of the original design.
The related stool, with fluted feet springing from foliated plinths, from the Palazzo Reale, Naples is illustrated in G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Neoclassico Italiano, Milan, 1955, Pl. CCIL
The stools classical or "antique" form is inspired by a "tabouret" illustrated by C Percier and P Fontaine in their Receuil de decorations interieures 1802, pl. no. 39, although the fleur-de-lys displayed here between the thyrsus-like cones feplaces the rosette of the original design.
The related stool, with fluted feet springing from foliated plinths, from the Palazzo Reale, Naples is illustrated in G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Neoclassico Italiano, Milan, 1955, Pl. CCIL