Pair Of Mahogany Russian Empire Chairs, With Lyre-shaped Carved Backs, Circa 1810

Pair of Empire armchairs

Mahogany
Russia, circa 1810
Height 89 cm, width 59 cm, depth 60 cm. Seat height 46 cm.

Pair of mahogany armchairs, featuring an architectural frame and balanced proportions. The openwork backs are connected by a wide upper crossbar with rounded ends, adorned with carved rosettes, and by a central crossbar shaped like a stylized lyre, richly carved with palmettes, volutes, and a central rosette. The slightly curved armrests rest on carved supports shaped like large plant-inspired volutes adorned with rosettes, while the front legs are decorated with carved foliage and the rear legs extend the line of the backrest with a gentle curve. The seats are covered with a recent emerald-green upholstery, the hue of which contrasts with the depth and warmth of the mahogany.

The lyre is the principal ornamental and symbolic motif of these armchairs. Associated in classical antiquity with Apollo and the Muses, this instrument was revived in the neoclassical repertoire as an emblem of music, poetry, harmony, and the arts. Its incorporation into furniture was therefore not merely for decorative purposes but was part of the conscious revival of Greco-Roman culture that characterized European decorative arts in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. On these armchairs, the lyre also occupies the visual center of the backrest and is paired with palmettes, rosettes, and volutes, thereby reinforcing an ornamental scheme entirely inspired by antiquity.

Made in Russia around 1810, these armchairs are fully in keeping with the Empire style, which developed during the first decades of the 19th century and was adapted in Russia with a particularly monumental and classical character. The straight lines of the backrest, the use of mahogany, the rigorous symmetry, and the repertoire of lyres, palmettes, and rosettes are characteristic of this decorative style. Contrasting with the austerity of the overall structure, the abundant carvings lend the pieces a distinct sculptural quality, particularly evident in the armrests and the lyres on the backrests.