Empire Fauteuils 'd'Officier' with Lion Heads, Budapest, circa 1805/10

Beech, finely carved with lion heads, rosettes, acanthus friezes and foliage. Original gilding and setting in "verde antico", gilded brass applications. The pair of armchairs follows antique Roman models in its design and imitates patinated and gilded bronze in its setting in a classicist-antique formal language. The "d'Officier" version, with the seat open on both sides, enabled the officers of the Habsburg monarchy to receive their guests without having to remove their swords. The pair of extravagant seats was once part of a larger salon, which was made around 1805/10 to furnish the Palais Erdödy in Budapest. The stately home was the residence of Countess Anna Maria (Marie) Erdödy (1778-1837) and her husband, Count Peter Erdödy (1771-1837), one of the richest and most powerful families in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.