Empress Eugénie (1826-1920) Large painted wood armchair with a scrolled back, the armrests with sphinx figures resting on a belt decorated with foliage and flowers, and sabre feet ending in front with hooves, with an engraved metal plate inscribed: "This armchair was in the boudoir of Empress Eugenie on board the imperial yacht "Aigle" / Donated by M. Paolo Burdese minister plenipotentiary to Marcel Piccioni". Height: 94 cm Second Empire period (wear and tear, probably originally partially gilded) Provenance : - Paolo Burdese, said to have acquired it at the sale of the furniture on the imperial yacht and then donated it. - Marcel Piccioni then descendants Launched in 1859, the Aigle made several trips to the Mediterranean, and was used by Empress Eugenie to inaugurate the Suez Canal in 1869. As the Emperor's supplier, the yacht's furnishings were designed by Alexandre Georges Fourdinois (1799-1871). All that is known of this furnishing is a set of furniture in lemon and amaranth fillet from the Emperor's cabin (Musée du Château de Compiègne). The plaque affixed to the seat refers to a gift from Paolo Burdese, Italian consul in Toulon, to Marcel Piccioni (1891-1980), a diplomat who was embassy attaché in Rome from 1934 to 1938.