CIRCA 1820

The superb rinceau and scrolling foliate carving decorating of these well-proportioned Empire fauteuils are characteristic of St. Petersburg chair-making of the early 19th century. They are related to seat furniture designed for the refurbishment of Pavlovsk after a fire in 1803 had destroyed much of the original decoration. Two spectacular armchairs at Pavlovsk, designed by Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814) and made in 1804 for the Greek Hall and Maria Feodorovna's boudoir respectively, are similarly decorated with bronzed mahogany eagle-headed monopodiae front legs and the carving to the back panels shows a related pierced scrolling foliate-carved field (see E. Ducamp, ed., Pavlovsk - The Collections, Paris 1993, p. 111, ill. 24, 25).