A Highly Important Pair of Empire Style Mahogany Side Cabinets

Description

An Impressive and Highly Important Pair of Empire Style Mahogany Side Cabinets. One with an Integral Clock The Other a Barometer by Fournier.

Stamped ‘FOURNIER’ on the back of the lock plate.

Each cabinet has an arched pediment, surmounted by a bronze bust of Napoleon after the model by the French sculptor Antoine-Denis Chaudet (1763-1810). The centre of the pediment of one cabinet is fitted with the clock, with a eight day striking movement. The other cabinet is fitted with an aneroid barometer. Each enamel dial is framed by exceptional gilt and patinated bronze roundels depicting the signs of the zodiac. Flanking the clock and barometer each cabinet has a gilt-bronze frieze applied with classical masks and ribbon hung floral swags, above conforming cases headed by gilt-bronze anthemion friezes. The central cupboard doors are centred by lozenges containing gilt-bronze plaques depicting Flora holding a garland of flowers and Mercury with the Caduceus staff. Both cabinets open to reveal an interior fitted with three shelves.

France, Circa 1880.

Of superlative quality and boldly proclaiming the cult of Napoleon, these magnificent cabinets are modelled after a meuble-secrètaire illustrated in ‘Exposition des Arts au début de siècle’, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1 Jan 1891, p. 503, which was at that time in the Palais de Compiègne. The taste and appreciation for these designs and Empire-style furniture in the late 19th century is indeed indicated by the article and exhibition ‘Exposition des Arts au début de siècle’ which inspired contemporary Parisians with a display of rooms decorated in the ‘Imperial’ style, including the cabinet on which the present cabinets are modelled.

These magnificent cabinets are modelled after a meuble-secrètaire illustrated in ‘Exposition des Arts au début de siècle’, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1 Jan 1891, p. 503, which was at that time in the Palais de Compiègne.

A.M.E Fournier

A.M.E Fournier was established by 1850 at 109 boulevard Beaumarchais, and later at boulevard des Capucines. As well as exceptional case furniture, Fournier was famed for his upholstered work, exhibiting at many of the great exhibitions of the period, including the Exposition Universelle of 1867. His most famous creation was a wonderfully naturalistic giltwood rope twist stool, which was as highly sought after in his own period as it is today.

The Empire Style
In 1804 Napoléon I, crowned himself Emperor of France, ending years of political instability and signalling the dawning of the Empire period. During this time, the economy was booming and a new aristocracy was forming, with Napoléon’s court as its cornerstone.

The period was to see the revival of classical ideas and influences, primarily in the decorative arts. Napoléon’s court was quick to adopt the classical designs discovered in the archaeological excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, together with exotic hieroglyphic motifs from the Egyptian campaigns. Revolutionary conquests were echoed in the use of antique forms in architecture and the decorative arts, proclaiming ‘fame’ and ‘victory’. The use of these ancient designs and motifs celebrated France as the heir to these great civilisations imbuing it with the grandeur of Greece, the glory of Rome and the magnificence of the Pharaohs.

Typical Empire motifs included the acanthus leaf, anthemion (stylised honeysuckle), animal-paw feet, cornucopia, classical figures, dolphin, eagle, lyre and rosette. For ornamentation, gilt-bronze was a prerequisite.

The most influential architects of the Empire style were Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853). Official architects to Napoléon, their main responsibility was the renovation of the various royal residences, including Malmaison. Their ‘Recueil des décorations intérieures’ (1812) became the essential handbook of the Empire style.

After the fall of Napoléon the Empire style continued to be in favour for many decades, with only minor adaptations. The second half of the nineteenth century was to see a revival of the style, and the popularity of its strong but simple lines continues to the present day.