Pair of Egyptian Revival Armchairs

Presenting a gorgeous pair of Egyptian Revival armchairs with gilt Sphinx’s and highlights with original upholstery.

Mid-20th century and probably made by Maitland Smith, circa 1970/80.

Curved and scrolling back splats with upholstered fronts and back.

Fluted and curved armrests with upholstered arm rests.

Each arm is flanked by a pair of gilted Sphinx in the classic Egyptian Revival style.

Fluted and tapered legs to the front and solid curved back legs.

Gilt medallions on all sides.

The upholstery is gorgeous and in good original condition. It is a damask type fabric with gold silk base with red, cream and maroon velvet floral decorations.

A beautiful original and comfortable pair of armchairs !

Egyptian revival decorative arts is a style in Western art, mainly of the early nineteenth century, in which Egyptian motifs were applied to a wide variety of decorative arts objects.

Enthusiasm for the artistic style of Ancient Egypt is generally attributed to the excitement over Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt and, in Britain, to Admiral Nelson’s defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Napoleon took a scientific expedition with him to Egypt. Publication of the expedition’s work, the Description de l’Égypte, began in 1809 and came out in a series though 1826, inspiring everything from sofas with Sphinxes for legs, to tea sets painted with the pyramids. It was the popularity of the style that was new, Egyptianizing works of art had appeared in scattered European settings from the time of the Renaissance.

The Egyptian Gallery, a private room in the Duchess Street home of connoisseur Thomas Hope to display his Egyptian antiquities, and illustrated in engravings from his meticulous line drawings in his book, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807), were a prime source for the Regency style in British furnishings. The book inspired a generation of fashionable English homeowners to install parlor suites featuring chairs, tables and sofas in shapes that evoked the objects depicted on Egyptian tomb paintings.

Later discoveries prompted small further revivals.