Research
Of crossbanded bois violette(?) veneer with parcel gilt and bronzing. The upholstered U-form backrest suspended from two curved X-form uprights headed by carved eagle head monopodiae and terminating in lions paw feet. The uprights issuing straight armrests joining a conforming curved X-form shaped seat rail with carved rams head handrests, and also terminating in paw feet.

Marks:
One chair with white painted inscriptions to the underside:
F F
10(?)

The other chair with illegible pencil mark to the underside, possibly the number 7.

The present chairs employ a number of features characteristic of the decorative vocabulary of late-eighteenth century Russian painter, designer, and eminent architect, Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814). Working predominantly in St. Petersburg, Voronikhin was responsible for a great number of highly acclaimed buildings in the Russian Empire and Neoclassical styles such as Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. He employed a variety of motifs after antiquity, taking great artistic freedoms, particularly with seating. His designs for furniture, many of which were executed by the leading court cabinetmaker Heinrich Gambs, relied “heavily on decorative elements which assume almost a curiosity value”¹ and included the uses of carved, ebonized, and gilded woods.

Footnotes:
1. Chenevière, Antoine. Russian Furniture: The Golden Age 1780-1840. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988.

Full research report available.