Armchair (fauteuil en cabriolet) (one of a pair) (part of a set)

Jean-Baptiste-Bernard Demay

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This pair of armchairs formerly belonged to the Marquise de Ganay just as the Neoclassical bergères à la reine by Demay also in the museum’s collection (1973.305.3). Made of carved and gilded beechwood, the armchairs have a slightly curved back. Two pinecone finials terminate the top rail while the decorative motifs of pearls and guilloches, acanthus scrolls, and columns are frequently found on Neoclassical furnishings created during the reign of Louis XVI. Seen together with the bergères (1973.305.3) and sofa (1973.305.1) also by the same joiner or menuisier, this pair of armchairs demonstrates how furnishings at the end of the eighteenth century were typically conceived as part of a stylistically unified ensemble.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art