Set Of Four Neo-gothic Armchairs, France, Circa 1860

Rare set of four neo-Gothic armchairs in carved walnut with straight backs, framed by a twisted frieze decorated with foliage at the corners, and ending in a point topped with a seed. The scalloped armrest consoles are decorated with quatrefoil motifs and leafy scrolls as the ones that can be found on the capitals and rose windows of cathedrals. Covered with an elegant lampas, they end with four console legs connected by a spacer and ending with windings.

The very architectural and precise design of these armchairs evokes the creations of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), who was not only a renowned theorician, but above all an accomplished architect, whose genius lay in his acute observation of medieval buildings in view of their restoration (Notre-Dame de Paris, Château de Pierrefonds…), as well as the continuation of the Gothic style in architecture and decorative arts.

The Gothic style was brought back into fashion by the architect Jacques Hittorf (1792-1867) with the decorations made for the coronation of Charles X in 1824. It had a great success among the public with the success of literary works such as “Notre-Dame de Paris” by Victor Hugo in 1831 or the play by Alexandre Dumas, « La Tour de Nesle » in 1832. The furniture also followed the trend, as the neo-Gothic cabinet of the Count and Countess of Osmond in their Parisian hotel.