Jean Baptiste Demay - Pair Of Directoire-period Mahogany Chairs Upholstered In Horsehair

Pair of 4 mahogany chairs with curved backs adorned with an Athenian tripod resting on goat’s-foot legs. Beautiful and elegant decorative designfeaturing curves and counter-curves, carved from every angle: sophisticated yet appearing deceptively simple. Work from the Directoire period, very late 18th century, circa 1795–1800.
They are attributed to Jean Baptiste Demay (A few months ago, we sold nearly identical chairs that bore Demay’s mark on Rue de Clery.

Jean-Baptiste Bernard Demay (1759–1848), who became a master craftsman in 1784, was one of the great chairmakers working in Paris on Rue de Cléry, like most of his colleagues. Although he began his career under the Ancien Régime, he quickly achieved some success by supplying Queen Marie-Antoinette (Petit Trianon). He continued his career after the Revolution by changing his maker’s mark and adopting the current “Demay, rue de Clery. He enjoyed success under the Consulate through the end of the Empire with meticulously crafted pieces.

For their complete restoration, we chose to preserve the horsehair padding on its original straps, with a buffed varnish finishrestored to like-new condition that brings out the mahogany. Andfor the cover, we opted for a black horsehair fabric hand-woven on handlooms. This ultra-luxurious fabric is now produced by only one company in France and worldwide. Previous restorations and reinforcements.

Width: 46 cm
Height: 85 cm
Seat height: 46 cm