Bernard Molitor (1755-1833, Master in 1787) – Set of six armchairs and six chairs

Period : Paris, Consulate period, circa 1800.

Material : mahogany and black stained mahogany.

Dimensions : • Armchairs : 34 5/8 in. high (88 cm.) ; 21 5/8 in. wide (55 cm.) ; 19 1/8 in. deep (48.5 cm.). • Chairs : 34 in. high (86.5 cm.) ; 17 ¼ in. wide (44 cm.) ; 15 1/8 in. deep (38.5 cm.).

Origin : private European collection.

Bibliography : Ghislain de Diesbach, « Un nid de souvenirs en Suisse » (a nest of souvenirs in Switzerland), Connaissance des Arts, n° 192, February 1968, p. 62-67, ill. p. 66 et 67.

Description

Bought in Paris at the beginning of the Consulate by count Nicolas-Antoine-Xavier de Castella de Berlens, future general of the Empire, to furnish his Parisian hotel particulier; transferred to his chateau de Wallenried in Switzerland; inherited by the Castella family in Wallenried; private European collection. This set of twelve mahogany chairs and armchairs is characteristic of the end of the Directoire (1795-1799) and the beginning of the Consulate period (1799-1804). The tapering baluster shaped front legs topped with a gadrooned crown are ending in carved paws. The back legs are splayed. Each foot is surmounted with a stylized rosette within a square inset.