Set of Four Chairs attributed to G.-E. Lexcellent, France Circa 1880

A set of four gilded wooden chairs in the Louis XVI style with cane seats and backs. The backrest features a coat-of-arms silhouette resting on two volutes. The oval-shaped seat features a molded band consisting of a beaded frieze and a second frieze with a stylized four-lobed floral motif. The fluted base is adorned at the bottom with a wreath of acanthus leaves. The crossbar is decorated with a beaded pattern forming four circular segments. The feet, decorated with a plant motif, rest on a small sphere. The seat is upholstered in forest-green velvet; the backrest is partially covered with a panel made of the same fabric, featuring a scalloped edge accented by a green and gold cord.

In France, the Louis XVI style was essentially revived during the Second Empire, notably thanks to the patronage of empress Eugénie, who held a veritable cult of Marie-Antoinette. Thus, during this period, cabinetmakers of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine supplied the upper middle class and the aristocracy with luxuriously crafted furniture and objets d’art, which were associated in the collective imagination with the heyday of a certain “à la française” taste. The choice of furniture with slender, straight lines — displaying a stark contrast to the exuberance of the Louis XV style — was often de rigueur for reception rooms. Due to demand that remained strong throughout the early decades of the Third republic, this historicist trend endured until the Belle Époque.

Biography

Guillaume-Edmond Lexcellent was born in Paris on 2 December 1834. In 1867, he opened a furniture workshop and shop at 46 Rue de Charenton in Paris, later moving to 8 Rue Bréguet, where he remained in business until 1928. He took part in several World’s Fairs, exhibiting furniture in various styles: in 1855 he was awarded an honourable mention; in 1867 he received a bronze medal; and in 1889, he was awarded a silver medal. From 1894 onwards, Lexcellent began producing replicas of antique furniture.