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Lot Essay
Despite the early pencil inscription 'Bellanger' the design of these chairs seems closer to the work of Pierre-Benoit Marcion (1769-1840) than to that of Pierre-Antoine Bellang, although both worked in this style. The distinctive combination on each front leg of a double anthemion-carved baluster with a central flowerhead seems characteristic of his work. It appears on a giltwood chair with the St. Cloud inventory mark that is stamped by Marcion and illustrated in M. Jarry, le Sige Franais, Paris, 1973, fig.296. It appears on the front legs of a console by Marcion that is illustrated in D.Ledoux-Lebard, Le Mobilier Franais du XIX sicle, Paris, 1984, p.462. Marcion supplied a suite using the motif to the Empress' bedroom at the Grand Trianon in 1810 (Ledoux-Lebard, op.cit, p.466)
Henry Buchan, is recorded at 159 High St., Southampton, in 1830. He advertised in the Southampton Herald, on 8 March 1824 (see: The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p.123). His label on one of these chairs suggests that they have been in England since very soon after they were made, almost certainly since circa 1815.
Henry Buchan, is recorded at 159 High St., Southampton, in 1830. He advertised in the Southampton Herald, on 8 March 1824 (see: The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p.123). His label on one of these chairs suggests that they have been in England since very soon after they were made, almost certainly since circa 1815.