FAUTEUIL DE BUREAU "AUX LIONS AILÉS" Consulate/Empire, Paris, c. 1800, probably Georges Jacob (master 1765) or Jean-Baptiste Séné (master 1769) after the designs by Charles Percier and Pierre-François Léonard Fontaine. Mahogany finely carved with winged lion heads, paws and palmettes. Huff-shaped seat on a straight frame with front paw legs and rear sabre legs. Openwork backrest with a broad, strikingly recessed and protruding shoulder board. The curved armrests merge into the lion's head rests. Black horsehair fittings with geometric decoration. 66 × 57 × 94 cm. Cracks and signs of wear A very similar armchair, a so-called "Fauteuil de la Convention", can be found in the Palace of Versailles, currently in Louis-Philippe's flat (inv. no. T453). A sketch by Charles Percier shows a design for a similar chair (see Ledoux-Lebard, Les ébénistes du XIXème siècle, 1795-1889, Leurs œuvres et leurs marques, Paris, 1984, plate CXX). It can be assumed that the model was most likely proposed for the furniture of the National Convention ("La Convention", 1792-1795). Further comparative examples can be found at: - Château de la Malmaison, office chair of Napoleon and later of Corvisart, his personal physician, (inv. no. M.M.50.6.1). - Mobilier National (inv. no. GMT-26038-000 and GMT-3661-000). - The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen has a painting by Louis-Léopold Boilly depicting the composer François-Adrien Boieldieu in front of an identical chair (see Pierre Arizzoli-Clémentel. Le Mobilier de Versailles, Chefs d'Œuvre du XIXe siècle. Dijon, 2009. p 234).