Lot Essay
This pair of armchairs is likely based on plate 667 of Pierre de la Mésangère's Collections des Meubles et Objets de Goût, a design source published from 1802 and widely copied in America. Labeled in the pattern book a Fauteuil de Salon, the form of these chairs typifies the French Restauration aesthetic, which appealed to the American audience.
The carved lotus motif was integrated into French nineteenth-century furniture designs after Napoleon's 1798 campaign into Egypt and the publication in 1802 of Baron Vivant Denon's Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte.
The carved lotus motif was integrated into French nineteenth-century furniture designs after Napoleon's 1798 campaign into Egypt and the publication in 1802 of Baron Vivant Denon's Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte.