SUITE OF FOUR EMPIRE PERIOD ARMCHAIRS, ROME, CIRCA 1806 After a design by Lorenzo and Dionisio Santi In carved and gilded wood, the curved back decorated in the centre with an eagle with outstretched wings encircled by a laurel wreath, the fluted pilaster uprights surmounted by capitals decorated with water leaves, the armrest supports decorated with griffins, the fluted waistband, resting on claw feet at the front and sabre feet at the back, upholstered in cream cotton, printed label inscribed "C. S. BONIF (...) 42" on the back of one of the four armchairs; slight difference in carving and size on one of the four armchairs, minor damage and missing gilding, traces of worms. H. 108 and 109.5 cm (42 ½ in. and 43 ¼ in.) l. 66 and 67.5 cm (26 in. and 26 ½ in.) Provenance: Very probably part of the suite delivered for Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839) at the Palazzo del Bufalo, Rome ; Most probably transferred in 1815 to the Hôtel Hocquart de Montfermeil, Paris; Very probably sold in Paris on 17 June 1816; Very probably former collection of Prince Anatole Demidoff (1813-1870), Florence; Very probably Prince Paul Demidoff (1839-1885), his nephew; Very probably sold in Florence, collections of the San Donato palace, 15 March 1880 onwards; Acquired in the 1920s from an antique dealer by the grandparents of the present owners; European aristocratic collection. A set of four Empire giltwood armchairs, after a design by Dionisio and Lorenzo Santi, Rome, circa 1806 This set of armchairs was most likely commissioned by Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839), maternal uncle of Emperor Napoleon I, during his embassy in Rome between 1803 and 1806. An eminent patron Cardinal Joseph Fesch was one of the greatest collectors of the first half of the 19th century. Educated at the seminary in Aix-en-Provence, he abandoned the religious habit to follow Napoleon Bonaparte on his military campaigns in Italy from 1796 onwards. An art enthusiast, he began to assemble the first works in his vast collection at this time. In March 1800, he moved to Paris and bought the Hôtel Hocquart de Montfermeil, designed by Nicolas Ledoux, in the Chaussée d'Antin district, rue du Mont-Blanc. He then decided to return to ecclesiastical life; he was appointed archbishop of Lyon in 1802, and in 1803 Napoleon entrusted him with the prestigious post of French ambassador to the Holy See. He lived in the Palazzo del Bufalo in Piazza Colonna until 1806, when he returned to Paris following a deterioration in relations between the Emperor and the Pope. It was during this Roman embassy that this furniture was commissioned and executed. In 1815, forced into exile by the fall of the Empire, he settled permanently in Rome in the Palazzo Falconieri, which became the showcase for his immense collection. The attribution of the furniture to this prestigious commission We do not know the carpenters to whom this set is attributed; however, its design can be compared with those of the architects Lorenzo (1783-1839) and Dionisio Santi, Modèles de meubles et de décorations intérieures, published in 1828 (cf. E. Colle, Il Mobile Impero in Italia, Electa, Milan, 1998, p. 14). Presented in profile, the drawing of an armchair illustrated (cf. fig. 1) corresponds perfectly to our model: arched back, fluted uprights surmounted by foliate capitals, armrests supported by winged chimeras, fluted seat, claw feet. An inventory of the furniture in the Hôtel Hocquart de Montfermeil was drawn up in 1815 during the cardinal's exile. The impressive ensemble was listed in the following terms: "six sofas, two loveseats, forty-one armchairs, forty-eight chairs, all new, intended to make a piece of representation furniture, of richly carved wood decorated with winged chimeras, claw feet, rosettes and eagles, the seats and backs stuffed with horsehair. Covered in cloth without fabric. All in all ten thousand four hundred and forty francs". State furniture with a chequered history At the time of the fall of the Empire, the fate of this ensemble was a turbulent one. Made in Italy for the ambassador in Rome, it was transferred to the cardinal's private residence in Paris in 1806. When Fesch was exiled, part of the set was sold at auction on 17 June 1816 (lots 444 to 446). Three variants of the model are described: with a curved pediment back, with a triangular pediment, or with a variation in the armrests. Our suite seems to correspond to the one described under lot 444: "Twelve chairs, sixteen [or seven] armchairs, with two sofas, in carved and gilt wood, and stuffed with horsehair, without being covered; the arms of the armchairs are supported by winged chimeras, with lions' heads, and backs surrounded by arabesques with arched crowns adorned with Roman eagles." This seems to correspond to the models bequeathed by Cardinal Fesch to the Musée d'Ajaccio, where they are still kept today, as well as the series that belonged to Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain and Count of Survilliers (1768-1844), the cardinal's main heir, who also recovered some of them. A large part of the ensemble was acquired at the 1816 sale by Prince Anatole Demidoff for his sumptuous Florentine residence of Villa San Donato. The seats are clearly identifiable in two watercolours of the ballroom, painted by Fortuné de Fournier in 1841 (see fig. XXXX). They were still there at the time of the historic sale organised on 15 March 1880 on the initiative of Paul Demidoff. No fewer than 61 pieces can be identified in the catalogue (lots 5, 143, 144, 1082, 1083, 1084), divided between the "main entrance", the "ballroom" and the "large Flemish and Dutch gallery" (see fig. XXXX). We do not know what happened to our ensemble between the 1880 sale and the 1920s, when it was acquired by the members of a European aristocratic family, from whose descendants it has remained to the present day. Pieces from the same series are kept in the Cross Hall of the White House (see fig. XXXX) in Washington. This set may have been acquired by President James Monroe at the Fesch sale in 1816. A stamped armchair (JM 76 216) is in the James Monroe Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia (see fig. XXXX). Among the pieces in this set that have come up for sale in recent years are the following: * A pair of triangular pediment armchairs from the Philip Hewat-Jaboor collection (Christie's London, 8 February 2024, lot 97); * An armchair and a pair of chairs with curved pediment from the Dalva Brothers collection (Christie's Paris sale, 23 November 2021, lots 121 and 122); * A suite of five armchairs and a triangular pediment chair from the former William Beckford collection (Christie's London sale, 18 February 2007, lots 214 to 217); * A curved pediment sofa from the former Edward Medlicott collection (Christie's London sale, 9 June 1994, lot 120).