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Lot Essay
This fantastic 'lit en nacelle' is based on a drawing in Meubles et Objets de Goût published in 1805-7 by the celebrated homme de lettres, printer and author, Pierre de La Mésangère (1761-1831).
The influence of the drawing is obvious in the gondola shape of the boat, with its upswept stern and prow with swan figurehead, and the shimmering plateau of water upon which it sits. Titled 'Lit à Neptune', the drawing shows the hand of Percier and Fontaine's most fantastical designs and the iconography of power (the nef) and love (the swan) (P. La Mésangère, Collection de meubles et objets de goût: Cahier [5], Paris 1805; 1806; 1807, N°219).
Palatial 'lits de repos' of this scale and extravagance are very rare. Less ambitious, but of the same period, are Mme Récamier's bed, 1798, in the Louvre (OA11344) and Empress Josephine's bed chamber at Malmaison, 1812, both by Louis-Martin Berthault (d. 1823). Mésangère's Meubles et Objets de Goût illustrates different designs for various 'lits en bateau, lits à couronne, lits en corbeille', albeit few as fantastical as the present lot. Many of the drawings are considered so fanciful that they are thought to be beyond the bounds of realisation. The existence of this remarkable 'lit en nacelle' disproves that assumption, and underlines the rarity and importance of the present lot.
'FERNANDINO' - SPANISH EMPIRE FURNITURE
The majesté of Napoleon and the dissemination of the designs of Percier and Fontaine's Recueil de Décorations Intéreures, 1801, led to a flood of imports of furniture in the 'new style' to the courts of Europe. The first specimens to reach Spain were quickly noticed by cabinetmakers of the Royal workshops were they were interpreted by Spanish designers, such as Isidro Velázquez and Franciso Sabatini, and makers to the Spanish court, such as José López and Pablo Palencia (maestro ebanista 1797). Thus the Empire style was imbued by the Spanish character and its menuiserie altered by local practice.
The transitions from the Louis XVI style was slower in Spain, in part because of pro-Bourbon resistance to the short-lived reign of Napoleon's brother as José I, but the fashion for 'el Imperio' could not be resisted for long. Instead the Empire style reached its zenith during the reign of Fernando VII (1808-1833) and the style continued long after Napoleon's abdication. The term 'Fernandino' is still used to describe Spanish Empire furniture.
Relevant by comparison to the present lot are two armchairs in the Palacio Real de Madrid. Each in giltwood and carved mahogany, one copied from a Jacob model, with brass florets to the back rail, the other with giltwood carved swan arms. Also compare a Fernandino bed with giltwood hypocamps in the Vidal y Ribas Collection Barcelona (L. Feduchi, El Mueble Español, Barcelona, 1969, pl. 238, p. 246).
The marquetry to the top platform of the present lot references the earlier work of the Flemish born master in the Spanish workshops, José Canops (d. 1814), and closely resembles in its use of ribbon-tied trails in padouk, stripped kingwood and citronnier, the parquet floor of rare woods in the office of Carlos IV at the palace of the Bourbons, El Escorial (J.-A. Hernández Ferrero, The Royal Palaces of Spain, New York, 1998, pp. 242-245).
TOMÁS FELIPE RIERA Y ROCES
The 'F R' monogram refers to Tomás Felipe Riera y Roces (1790-1881). Born in Barcelona of Catalan aristocracy, Felipe Riera was a Knight of the Order of Carlos III and enobled by Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Bourbon (1806-1878).
In the early 19th century Felipe Riera bought from the marqueses de Ariza a palace on the Calle de Alcalá, Madrid, known as the 'Casa de los Alfileres' or 'House of Pins'. Bought in the name of his wife, Raimunda Gibert y Abril, the palace was a magnificent three-storey building with richly decorated salons and formal garden next to the Convento de las Baronesas and on the site of an earlier property belonging to the Conde de Miranda.
The ties of the Spanish nobility to the house of Bourbon ensured close links with France. It was not unusual therefore that Felipe Riera and his wife moved to Paris in the early 1840s. The reason for the move is not known, but given the complexities of the various allegiances within the Spanish court at the time, it was possibly motivated by their loyalty to the Queen Regent Maria Cristina, who in 1840 was forced to renounce the regency and exiled to France following the revelation of her marriage to an ex-sergeant from the royal guard, Agustín Fernando Muñoz (1808-1873).
Felipe Riera chose Paris as his principal place of residence for the remainder of his life, dying there in 1881 and is buried at the family mausoleum in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise. This magnificent daybed was photographed at his Parisian hôtel at the turn of the 20th century. The hôtel was demolished circa 1910. The daybed passed to the present owner by direct descent from Felipe Riera.
The influence of the drawing is obvious in the gondola shape of the boat, with its upswept stern and prow with swan figurehead, and the shimmering plateau of water upon which it sits. Titled 'Lit à Neptune', the drawing shows the hand of Percier and Fontaine's most fantastical designs and the iconography of power (the nef) and love (the swan) (P. La Mésangère, Collection de meubles et objets de goût: Cahier [5], Paris 1805; 1806; 1807, N°219).
Palatial 'lits de repos' of this scale and extravagance are very rare. Less ambitious, but of the same period, are Mme Récamier's bed, 1798, in the Louvre (OA11344) and Empress Josephine's bed chamber at Malmaison, 1812, both by Louis-Martin Berthault (d. 1823). Mésangère's Meubles et Objets de Goût illustrates different designs for various 'lits en bateau, lits à couronne, lits en corbeille', albeit few as fantastical as the present lot. Many of the drawings are considered so fanciful that they are thought to be beyond the bounds of realisation. The existence of this remarkable 'lit en nacelle' disproves that assumption, and underlines the rarity and importance of the present lot.
'FERNANDINO' - SPANISH EMPIRE FURNITURE
The majesté of Napoleon and the dissemination of the designs of Percier and Fontaine's Recueil de Décorations Intéreures, 1801, led to a flood of imports of furniture in the 'new style' to the courts of Europe. The first specimens to reach Spain were quickly noticed by cabinetmakers of the Royal workshops were they were interpreted by Spanish designers, such as Isidro Velázquez and Franciso Sabatini, and makers to the Spanish court, such as José López and Pablo Palencia (maestro ebanista 1797). Thus the Empire style was imbued by the Spanish character and its menuiserie altered by local practice.
The transitions from the Louis XVI style was slower in Spain, in part because of pro-Bourbon resistance to the short-lived reign of Napoleon's brother as José I, but the fashion for 'el Imperio' could not be resisted for long. Instead the Empire style reached its zenith during the reign of Fernando VII (1808-1833) and the style continued long after Napoleon's abdication. The term 'Fernandino' is still used to describe Spanish Empire furniture.
Relevant by comparison to the present lot are two armchairs in the Palacio Real de Madrid. Each in giltwood and carved mahogany, one copied from a Jacob model, with brass florets to the back rail, the other with giltwood carved swan arms. Also compare a Fernandino bed with giltwood hypocamps in the Vidal y Ribas Collection Barcelona (L. Feduchi, El Mueble Español, Barcelona, 1969, pl. 238, p. 246).
The marquetry to the top platform of the present lot references the earlier work of the Flemish born master in the Spanish workshops, José Canops (d. 1814), and closely resembles in its use of ribbon-tied trails in padouk, stripped kingwood and citronnier, the parquet floor of rare woods in the office of Carlos IV at the palace of the Bourbons, El Escorial (J.-A. Hernández Ferrero, The Royal Palaces of Spain, New York, 1998, pp. 242-245).
TOMÁS FELIPE RIERA Y ROCES
The 'F R' monogram refers to Tomás Felipe Riera y Roces (1790-1881). Born in Barcelona of Catalan aristocracy, Felipe Riera was a Knight of the Order of Carlos III and enobled by Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Bourbon (1806-1878).
In the early 19th century Felipe Riera bought from the marqueses de Ariza a palace on the Calle de Alcalá, Madrid, known as the 'Casa de los Alfileres' or 'House of Pins'. Bought in the name of his wife, Raimunda Gibert y Abril, the palace was a magnificent three-storey building with richly decorated salons and formal garden next to the Convento de las Baronesas and on the site of an earlier property belonging to the Conde de Miranda.
The ties of the Spanish nobility to the house of Bourbon ensured close links with France. It was not unusual therefore that Felipe Riera and his wife moved to Paris in the early 1840s. The reason for the move is not known, but given the complexities of the various allegiances within the Spanish court at the time, it was possibly motivated by their loyalty to the Queen Regent Maria Cristina, who in 1840 was forced to renounce the regency and exiled to France following the revelation of her marriage to an ex-sergeant from the royal guard, Agustín Fernando Muñoz (1808-1873).
Felipe Riera chose Paris as his principal place of residence for the remainder of his life, dying there in 1881 and is buried at the family mausoleum in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise. This magnificent daybed was photographed at his Parisian hôtel at the turn of the 20th century. The hôtel was demolished circa 1910. The daybed passed to the present owner by direct descent from Felipe Riera.