{"product_id":"antique-french-empire-revival-mahogany-settee-with-ormolu-mounts-c-1880-neoclassical-salon-sofa","title":"Antique French Empire Revival Mahogany Settee with Ormolu Mounts - c.1880 Neoclassical Salon Sofa","description":"\u003ch3\u003eOverview\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fine French Empire Revival two-seat settee in mahogany with extensive ormolu mounts throughout. Circa 1880. The craftsmen of the 1880s who revived the Empire style did so with exceptional seriousness - this settee is not a simplified approximation of the Empire aesthetic, but a full and faithful expression of it. French seating furniture of this decorative quality and completeness is becoming genuinely difficult to source.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eKey Features\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eFrench Empire Revival, circa 1880\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eSolid mahogany frame - broad, clean Empire profile throughout\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eExtensively mounted with original cast ormolu - palm fronds, anthemion, lion mask medallions, rosettes and acanthus sprays\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eCream silk upholstery with Napoleonic bee and laurel wreath repeat motif\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eOpen swept arms with ormolu-mounted terminals\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eElegant sabre legs with ormolu acanthus mounts - correct to the Empire original\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eAll mounts original and secure — no replacements or losses\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eGenerous two-seat proportions — comfortable for practical use\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCraftsmanship \u0026amp; Detail\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mahogany frame is broad, clean and authoritative. The back rail carries a procession of finely cast ormolu mounts - palm fronds, anthemion leaves, lion mask medallions and floral rosettes - applied with the regularity of a classical frieze. These are not decorative afterthoughts; they are the grammar of the piece. The same mounts continue to the seat rail and sabre legs, where acanthus sprays and pendant husks complete the ornamental programme with complete consistency. The cream silk upholstery carries a repeat motif of the Napoleonic bee enclosed within a laurel wreath - the personal emblem of Napoleon Bonaparte, chosen to symbolise industry, immortality, and imperial authority. Fabric woven with this motif was used in the Napoleonic imperial interiors, and its use here is entirely deliberate. Whoever commissioned this piece understood the language they were speaking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Lee Hawkins, Hawkins Antiques · Est. 1960\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hawkins Antiques","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57184162283897,"sku":null,"price":1300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0993\/6633\/8937\/files\/empiresettee2.jpg?v=1777562560","url":"https:\/\/hawkinsantiques.com\/products\/antique-french-empire-revival-mahogany-settee-with-ormolu-mounts-c-1880-neoclassical-salon-sofa","provider":"Hawkins Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}