19th Century Carved Rococo Revival Bergere Armchair With Ram's Head Knees, Louis XV

Details

Description

Continental Rococo Revival armchair in the Louis XV taste, in solid carved show wood (walnut or mahogany). Each cabriole leg … Read more Continental Rococo Revival armchair in the Louis XV taste, in solid carved show wood (walnut or mahogany). Each cabriole leg is carved at the knee with a ram's head, the horn coiled around the ear, with the fleece carved as a pendant trail down the leg to a scrolled toe, carved in the round from the leg itself rather than applied. Asymmetrical pierced and scrolled crest rail with a carved mask and a floral spray inside the piercing; serpentine back, foliate-carved arm terminals and a moulded serpentine seat rail.

The crest is cut from a single plank, with tool marks visible through the sawn piercing. Age and origin are not established: it has not been examined by a specialist, and on style and construction it reads as Continental Louis XV-revival work rather than an 18th-century chair.

Upholstered in green silk brocade with pink and cream floral sprays and birds, finished with a gilt gimp braid; a later recovering, not original.

Approx. 24 in W across the arms x 25 in D x 40 in H at the crest.

Condition: fair. SOLD AS FOUND: this is not a ready-to-use chair. There are structural cracks in the show wood, including a split through the crest rail and an open split across the back frame, and the upholstery is worn with losses to the braid. Budget for a frame repair and a re-cover. See less