Early 19th Century Steel Armchair

Louis-Philippe period armchair in polished wrought-steel, gilded and painted iron.
Polished wrought-steel, gilded and painted iron with contemporary green upholstery.
France.
Early 19th Century.
h. 34,6 in. ; w. 22 in. ; p. 20,4 in.

Gondola armchair in polished forged steel and iron painted with antique and martial motifs, with crook armrests adorned with gilded paterae and gilded dolphin heads, a motif that became fashionable during the Directoire period and was very common in Empire furniture. This armchair is all the more remarkable in that it combines the robustness and rusticity of forged steel with refined decorative elements such as the crook armrests and, above all, the gilded pegs and dolphin heads, 

The solidity of this metal furniture, compared to its wooden equivalents, and its relative lightness - thanks to its tubular construction - meant that the armchairs could be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors, on a terrace or in a conservatory, as the day went on and the seasons changed.

Sources

Georg Himmelheber, Cast-Iron Furniture and all other forms of iron furniture, London, 1996 ; Alain Renner, Mobilier de métal de l’Ancien Régime à la Restauration, Saint-Rémy-en-l’Eau, 2009.