236 - RARE CHAIR FROM THE PRIVATE APARTMENTS OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON I AT THE TUILERIES

RARE CHAIR FROM THE PRIVATE APARTMENTS OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON I AT THE TUILERIES White-lacquered wooden chair with a curved backrest openworked with palmettes, foliage, and stars; the front legs are pear-shaped, with veined leaf capitals, and the rear legs are saber-shaped. Consulate period (1799–1804). Label from the Tuileries Palace bearing the crowned “TS” and the handwritten inscription “Petit appt de l'Empereur, 2e salon”; brand mark “PLS DES/TUIL.LES”; brand mark “TH” and three fleurs-de-lis beneath a royal crown inscribed within an oval. Stencil number “23832”. H. 89 x W. 46 x 41 cm. Provenance - Personal furnishings of Napoleon I at the Tuileries (placed in the second salon of the Emperor’s small apartments). - Hôtel Drouot auction, Room 1, November 5 and 6, 1936, lot 89. - Formerly in the Jean Nicolay collection, Paris, then passed down through the family. - French private collection. History A chair for the First Consul’s new residence. An examination of the labels and marks on this chair confirms that it was once located at the Tuileries Palace. This palace, which was burned down during the Paris Commune, was built on the initiative of Catherine de’ Medici beginning in 1564 and served from time to time as a royal residence for numerous sovereigns. Abandoned by Louis XV in favor of the Palace of Versailles, it served as a gilded cage for the royal family during the Revolution. In May 1793, the Convention moved in and renamed it the “Palais National”; the Council of Elders succeeded it under the Directory. It was during the Consulate, around 1799–1800, at the instigation of Napoleon Bonaparte, that the Tuileries Palace once again became a residence. To consolidate the nascent regime, a new, large-scale artistic program with political aims was launched under the direction of Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine. In February 1800, the restoration and renovation of the Tuileries began at the request of the First Consul. During the Empire, the palace became the official residence of Napoleon I. The PLS DES/TUIL.LES brand mark applied to the Tuileries’ furnishings during the Empire attests to the presence of our chair within Napoleon I’s official residence during the imperial era (ill. 1). While this brand mark establishes the chair’s presence at the Tuileries during the Empire, the antique label bearing the crowned letters “TS” allows us to trace its arrival there. An armchair in the Mobilier National collections bearing a label identical to that on our chair can be linked to it and helps explain its delivery. This armchair, made of waxed mahogany by the firm Jacob Frères (ill. 2), was delivered around 1800 to the Tuileries Palace and placed, as part of a set of six, in the salon of Louis-Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne (1769–1834), secretary to the First Consul, located on the mezzanine floor above Bonaparte’s living quarters. After his secretary fell from grace in 1802, Bonaparte made this space his own small apartment, which retained its original furnishings until the end of the Empire, aside from the occasional rearrangement of pieces from one room to another. The room became the second parlor of the Emperor’s small apartment. If our chair was placed in the Emperor’s small apartment, it is possible to infer that it was incorporated into this space during the renovation of the Tuileries ordered by Bonaparte during the Consulate. The TH brand mark, accompanied by three fleurs-de-lis beneath a crown and inscribed within an oval, indicates that the chair was still present at the Tuileries during the Restoration. Napoleon had a small apartment located on the mezzanine level above his living quarters. Originally intended for the king’s valet, it consisted of a modestly sized black antechamber, followed by six adjoining rooms arranged as follows: a dining room, a study, a first parlor, a second parlor, a bedroom, and a small boudoir. This space was occupied by Bourrienne until he fell from grace in 1802, at which point Bonaparte made it his own small apartment. The “petit appartements” are unique spaces that also exist in other imperial residences (notably at the Château de Saint-Cloud and the Château de Fontainebleau). They are characterized by the absence of court etiquette, much like the inner apartments, and are off-limits to everyone except the secretary. They thus offer the Emperor a refuge free from any protocol requirements and allow him to withdraw as he pleases. The small apartment at the Tuileries took this privacy to a higher level; the place is known as the “secret apartment.” It was there that Napoleon received his romantic visitors: Marie Walewska, Madame Gazani, Madame de La Plaigne, and Mlle. Georg