19th C Antique French Empire / Classical Period Mahogany Day Bed / Sofa
19th C Antique French Empire / Classical Period Mahogany Day Bed / Sofa
With our highest compliments and utmost honors, Bay Colony Antiques is proud to offer for sale this exceptional 19th century antique Mahogany day bed. This design has been around since antiquity and came back into fashion during the French Empire period and the subsequent Classical movement that developed shortly after. Boston, Philadelphia, and New York were the biggest epicenters of American classical period design and a lot of that is owed to the French architects and cabinet makers that brought over their knowledge of the emerging French Empire style. This came to us with a simple plywood frame system, but we didn’t include it in the photos because we’re going to ask our restorer to design a new frame system included in your purchase. The daybed has one long base cushion and three back cushions. The cushions and seat have a tasteful blue and yellow floral fabric that are in good condition free of any rips and tears.
This is a true day bed, not a modified bed and what really sets it apart from most others is the brass jewelry mounted along the front edge. Each end has a brass bust at the top, full bodied vines with leaves & unusual protruding nodes at the middle, and round floral rosettes near the base. The front rail has an elegant sweeping curve and really catches your eye with book matched crotch Mahogany veneers and 5 additional brass mounts. The center medallion has a nice floral design with interlacing ends and carved acanthus leaves. The most interesting and rarest of all the motifs are the winged dragons on each end of the rail. The dragons have a long serpent like body like a lot of European dragons and appears to have the head of a lion. The day bed is in very good condition and is completely structurally unaltered which is really our biggest concern. Furniture of this period and style was usually constructed with veneers and we note a few chips along the feet and a couple on the rail but we’ll have these addressed by our restorer. This is easy to overlook, so we wanted to point out how the crotch Mahogany veneer at the ends can be followed all the way up each curved side. This was clearly made in a highly competent cabinet shop, and we were leaning more towards New York but wouldn’t be surprised if this was made in Philadelphia. Anthony Quervelle & Michel Bouvier were probably the most influential in Philadelphia and Charles Lannuier & Duncan Phyfe lead the Classical movement in New York. We don't have the sizes on hand but will be sure to amend the listing with them shortly. If we don't have the sizes added yet please feel free to send us a message and we'll send them over directly when we add them to the listing.