Antique French Secretaire Louis XV Style

Antique French Secretaire Louis XV Style ( Double Desk)

Stamped by Bernard van Risenburgh II French, Paris, about 1750 Oak veneered with tulipwood, bois satiné, and kingwood; gilt-bronze mounts.

3 ft. 6 1/2 in. x 5 ft. 2 1/2 in. x 2 ft. 9 3/8 in. 70.DA.87

The double form of this unusually large desk ( Antique French Secretaire ) is unique. When lowered, both sides form writing surfaces and reveal drawers and pigeonholes veneered with marquetry. The finely cast and chased gilt-bronze mounts delineate the edges of the drawers, front, and legs. On the fall fronts of the desk, bunches of marquetry flowers seem to sprout from the sculptural mounts.

The desk Antique French Secretaire was probably made for the fermier général (a type of tax collector) François-Balthazar Dangé; a similar desk is described in an inventory taken at his death in 1777. The desk is also found in the 1795 inventory of his son Louis, who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

Antique French Napoleon Marquetry Buffet (Bombe)

Antique Napoleon III Marquetry Buffet Bombe chest

Country of Origin :France

Measurements : Height: 42 inchesDepth: 19 inchesLength: 53 inches

Description

From the owner's personal collection, museum quality antique French Napoleon III black lacquered buffet or bombe chest with bronze and mother-of-pearl inlay, bronze ormolu, original marble top, serpentine front and sides and mahogany interior. A magnificent piece in very good original condition. There is a crack in the lacquer and the marble has surface scratches which can be cleaned up (see detailed photos). France circa 1860

Antique French Side Chair Louis XVI Style

Antique French Side Chair Louis XVI Style

1784 Georges Jacob (French, 1739–1814),

carved by Jules Hugues Rousseau (French, 1743–1806) and his brother Jean-Siméon Rousseau (French, 1747–ca. 1822)Carved and gilded walnut;

H. 34 x W. 18 1/2 x D. 18 in. (86.4 x 47 x 45.7 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1977 (1977.102.13,14)

This delicate side chair was made for the boudoir of Marie Antoinette at the Tuileries palace in 1784. Its back stiles are surmounted by a tiny balloon in reference to the aerostatic experiment of Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (1745–1799) and his brother Joseph-Michel (1740–1810), inventors of the first practical balloon, that took place on September 19, 1783.

Antique Venitian Cabriolet Armchair Italian Style

Venitian Cabriolet Armchair

Circa 1755 - 1760.

Dimensions : 90 H x 60 W x 54 D cm.

Original : Private collection, Northern France.

Charming, elegant, refined, this Antique Venitian Cabriolet Armchair made « en cabriole » combines the grace of the eighteenth century with the light exuberance of the Republic of Venice.

These generous forms have intricated and skilled carving : flowers, leaves and scrolls are tastefully portrayed with curves and counter curves that reflect a dynamic architecture.

One can also see excellent detailing not only climbing the legs but finishing at the feet. Above all, a distinctive grace is apparent in this charming model.

Antique French Armchair Directoire Lyre Style

Directoire Lyre Armchair

Directoire armchair, circa 1795.

Dimensions : 85 h x 56 w x 46 d cm.

The elegant simplicity of the Antique French Armchair Directoire Lyre Style brings it into line with the Directoire lyre and Provincial chairs, The seat height and the set back hollowed moulding arm-rest supports mean that it can be used at a table.

Antique French Empire Chair

Antique Empire chair

circa 1805-1810.
Dimensions : 95 h x 50 w x 43 d cm.
Seat height : 47 cm.

This pure Antique French Empire chair, with a powerful yet not heavy look, is typical for the taste of the early 19th century which is inspired by the Etruscan style and furthermore and mainly by the discoveries of Napoleon in the Egyptian expeditions. Firmly balanced on the back legs in the shape of sabres, this chair offers us turned front legs with ornamented extremities in the shape of stylised lotus leaves. This motif is repeated in the extremities and middle of the
horizontal lictor bundles that cover the backrest. The simple and refined moulding that runs along the rails is deliberately simple and does not tarnish the reputation
of the author. We notice in the same way the wanted simplicity of the joints.

Finished, be it painted, be it in waxed mahogany, she possesses inventory numbers in the interior of the rails of the original model which proves the official origin. It could be attributed to Bellangé, Marcion or Jacob- Desmalter.

Antique French Stand Regency Style

Antique French Stand Regency Style

French, Paris, about 1700 - 1715
Gilded oak; pine
H: 2 ft. 1/2 in. x W: 2 ft. 6 1/2 in. x D: 1 ft. 8 1/2 in.
90.DA.23

his elaborately carved antique French stand was probably intended to support a large coffer decorated with any of a variety of materials such as fine needlework, Chinese or Japanese lacquer, or intricate wood marquetry. Such an ensemble—coffer and stand—would have stood in a formal bedroom during the 1600s and early 1700s. The owner would have stored clothes, documents, and valuable personal items in the coffer.

How to Antique Furniture

How to Antique Furniture

To antique furniture is to give it a distressed look is a great way to revive outdated or worn pieces, as well as achieve character and age newer pieces. Antiquing furniture techniques have improved dramatically over the years On chair, for example, the points of the arms tend to lose some color and the edges tend to round. That is a great antiquing furniture technique to do to a new chair or piece of furniture. Another great antiquing furniture technique is to take a fine-point black marker and create a few specks on the legs or arms of your piece of furniture. The bottom line, don't go overboard with distressing furniture because too much can be detrimental to the look.

To give wood furniture an antiquing look The marks of two hundred years of wear and tear should faithfully reproduced, from dust and woodworm holes to the luster and natural patina of a wood which has aged gracefully

To allow the wood to be deeply impregnated with successive layers of wax, each piece stands for several days in our workshops between the different finishing stages. This method gives a solution to know how to antique furniture by giving the chair a natural ageing effect and a warmer and livelier patina. What is more, all the patinas will become more pronounced over the years.

Antique French Desk Henri II style

Antique French Carved Oak Desk Henri II style

Country of Origin: France

Period : Antique

Measurements : Height: 46 inches , Depth: 26 inches , Length: 51 inches

Description

Antique oak Henri II style desk with rich warm patina, six hand dove-tailed drawers and extensive hand carvings with mythological creature motif. The raised back panel consists of a central drawer with niche beneath flanked by small banks of two drawers. A pediment with floral carvings on diaper ground centered in volutes rests above these drawers and terminates in raised acanthus leaf corners. The five drawer arrangement, including cash drawer, is repeated in the lower section of the desk and the flat top is a sliding panel which can be pulled out and extended 8" providing more leg room and increased desk top surface area. The whole piece rests on substantial barley twist legs connected with H-form barley twist stretcher. France circa 1870.

Antique French Directoire Style Bed

Antique French Directoire Style Bed

Charming Directoire style canopy bed that will make any little girl a princess. Fabric and mattress are new, some paint restoration has been carried out. France circa 1860-1880

Directoire style Carrying on from the Louis XVI style, but also inspired by the Etruscans and Romans; starting around 1787, but flourishing in its own right under the French Revolution, thanks to the painter David.

This style ended with the Consulate and Empire styles, inspired by the Romans and then by ancient Egypt.

Country of Origin
France

Period
Antique

Measurements
Height: 114 inches
Depth: 52 inches
Length: 81 inches

Directoire Armchair & Bench ( Banquette)

Directoire armchair and Bench "Banquette"

Directoire armchair

with upholstered back, circa 1795.

Dimensions : 89 h x 56 w x 50 d cm.

The armchair and its sofa are sensibly dimensioned seats which provide highly satisfactory comfort without taking up too much floor space. The elegance of the support / leg uprights lies in the superb turned shape of the legs and the arm-rest supports, carved at the knees and bases with fine cabling or fine horizontal fluting.

The attachment of the arm rests to the back is elegantly arranged in the extension of the line of the stiles. The original hexagonal arm rest head should be noted.

Similar chairs were made by the sons of George Jacob who, assisted by their father, set up a company.

Their stamp was “Jacob Freres rue Meslee”, but as at this time the obligation to stamp was no longer in vogue, only some have come down to us signed.

Directoire Bench "Banquette"

Two-seater Directoire sofa,

circa 1795.

Dimensions : 90 h x 126 w x 60 d cm.

Banquette making suite with directoire armchair.

Louis XV Cane Sofa

Louis XV sofa

around 1755.

Dimensions : 102 H x 260 W x 73.5 D cm.

Original : collection of a Belgian antiquarian.

This large, deep cane Louis XV sofa with eight legs represents all the brilliance of the great cabinet makers of the middle of the 18th century in France. It is a large, movable seat, curving and counter-curving, with deep floral motif carvings. The “beading” finished in foliage that separates the moulding in the middle of the legs denotes superior quality. The pronounced “ridged razor-back” will also be noted, the rounded fastenings of the belts to the legs, which connect this piece of furniture to that produced by the great cabinet makers of Lyons (Pierre Nogaret, François Canot, Thomas Levet…). This style can also be seen with René Cresson and Nicolas Heurtaut.

Napoleon III fireside chair

Napoleon III fireside chair

Circa 1890

Dimensions: 113 H - 51 W - 48 D cm

Seat height: 45 cm

Original: Private collection, Brussels

This Napoleon III fireside chair Its unique high back with its elegant curve and low seat give this chair the characteristics of a fireside chair.

With an extremely comfortable back, it is an occasional chair that will easily find a place in the various romms of one's home and which may be put to a great many uses.

Antique Italian Carved and Gilt wood Side Table

Carved and gilt wood of Side Table

Design attributed to Johann Paul Schor
Austrian, Rome, about 1670
Carved and gilt wood
55 15/16 x 88 1/2 x 33 7/16 in.
86.DA.7

Without any practical function, this table was conceived like a sculpture and probably served as pure decoration in a Roman palace. It is composed of twisted laurel branches and berries that sprout from a rocky base. An eagle with outstretched wings and holding another laurel branch in its beak has landed in the center. Large, curling seashells form the top. Scholars cannot tell whether these elements might have had special emblematic meanings or whether they were chosen simply for their decorative qualities.

A 1713 guidebook of Rome mentions a room in the Palazzo Altieri that was decorated as "an artificial cave, composed of mountains and rocks. Inside is a bed made of tree-trunks, a table, a fountain..." The Getty Museum's table would not have been out of place in such a grotto

Antique Regency Stool

Antique Regency Stool

French, Paris, about 1710 - 1720
Gilded walnut; modern leather upholstery
H: 1 ft. 6 1/2 in. x W: 2 ft. 1 in. x D: 1 ft. 6 7/8 in.
84.DA.970

This elaborately carved Regence stool is part of a set of furniture consisting of two stools, two settees, and six armchairs. The set may have originally furnished the Paris house of the wealthy financier Pierre Crozat, Treasurer of France; an inventory taken after his death in 1740, describes a similar but larger suite of furniture.

When the Getty Museum acquired the stool, it had been stripped of its gilding and its original leather upholstery. Conservators replaced the gesso, the gilding, and the appliquéd leather with its cream and red silk ribbon, using the existing chairs, two of which are now in the Musée du Louvre, as a model.

Louis XVI Bed Painted and Gilded Walnut

Louis XVI Bed Painted and Gilded Walnut

French, Paris, about 1775 - 1780

Painted and gilded walnut, gilded iron, modern silk upholstery and passementerie, and ostrich feathers
9 ft. 11 in. x 5 ft. 10 1/2 in. x 7 ft. 5 in.
94.DA.72

A grand Louis XVI bed like this one was meant to stand in a deep niche in the bedroom of the main apartment of a palace or mansion. In the 1700s, visitors were frequently received in the bedroom, while the host or hostess was still in bed or at his or her dressing table.

Wealthy Europeans of this era spent vast sums of money on lavish textiles to decorate their rooms. Although the extravagant upholstery, passementerie, and hangings on this bed are modern, they replicate its original grandeur. To match the effect of other contemporary beds, curators and conservators studied photographs of this bed taken in the early 1900s, when much of the original fabric remained.

Regence Bergere & FootRest

Regence bergere

Regence bergere around 1730.

Dimensions : 95 h x 79 w x 68 d cm.

Original : private collection - Liege area (Belgium).

The generous dimensions of this fine seat make it very comfortable, and the set back arm-rest supports leave the seat free, giving a greater impression of ease. This arrangement was adopted following the fashion for dresses with very wide hoops. The symmetrical Regence carving is discreet (shell and acanthus leaves) but in good taste. This seat, which is low and wide, is supported by short, arched legs finishing in claw feet which make it original.