SPECTACULAR Gilded wood armchair richly carved,... - Lot 249 - Osenat

SPECTACULAR Gilded wood armchair richly carved, with rectangular back decorated with a tangle of laurel leaves, gadroons in doucine, daisies and fleurons alternated in a garland of acanthus leaves and volutes in the upper part, the amounts of the back presents flowers in volutes underlined by laurel leaves ended by a scroll and a lotus leaf, The flanges decorated with scrolls and volutes, the curved belt carved with vine leaves in half-ovens, the accotoitrs with large palmette, lotus leaf, cuff and acanthus leaves are supported by amounts with winged bust draped in the antique, and large acanthus leaves. It rests on tapered front legs surmounted by three rings, acanthus leaves and rais de coeur and finished with water leaves and a frieze of pearls, the rear legs arched with a large ribbed palm and a scroll finished by a scroll. Stamped P . BRION and PERREAU- DEREPAS (probably upholsterers) Empire-Restoration period (some chips, gilding resumption) H: 104 W: 71 D: 58 cm Provenance: Sale Tajan Paris December 15, 1993 n°123. This sculptor who became a carpenter benefits from the study of Sylvain Cordier1, where this chair is reproduced on page 50. A woodcarver by training, Pierre Gaston Brion (1767-1855) received his master's degree in this discipline in 1780 and took particular care in carving the ornaments, as shown in the chair we present. He worked on seats delivered for the Garde Meuble by Georges Jacob and Jean-Baptiste Claude Sené in the last decade of the 18th century. He collaborated with the greatest upholsterers of his time including Jean-Joseph Andry, Alexandre Maigret (Château de Meudon), Jean-Louis Poussin and Jean-Louis Lejeune (Palais de Fontainebleau), Pierre Charzerain (Palais de Versailles) and Bernard Molitor. He received his first official commission in 1811 for Fontainebleau 2 and participated in the furnishing of the Palace of Monte Cavallo, executed armchairs and the bed of the room that later became the Salon Pauline at the Hotel de Charost 3, made before 1814, at the request of the favorite sister of Napoleon I. He realized his masterpiece (1824-1825): the parade bed of Charles X at the Tuileries palace 4. If he never obtained the mention of Master carpenter, his seats are characterized by a great quality of execution and an insignificant attention to the sculpture. - 1 Sylvain Cordier, "Pierre-Gaston Brion, Menuisier et Sculpteur sur bois", L'Estampille / L'Objet d'Art, June 2005, no 403, p. 40-51. - 2 Used under Louis-Philippe, in the family salon of the Grand Trianon in 1838. - 3 Now the residence of the British ambassador to France. - 4 preserved in the Louvre Museum