Pierre-Benoît MARCION, rare pair of shepherdesses stamped from the Consulate period

Very rare pair of Etruscan shepherdesses in blond mahogany with sculpted heads of eagles or griffins and hamstrung front feet ending in doe hooves.
The reversed "antique style" back joins the belt with other stylized eagles.
Few models with reversed backs are referenced in the production of Pierre-Benoît Marcion, all made under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate.
We find these same feet in the shape of doe hooves covered with animal hair on the shepherdesses with swans, stamped by Marcion, in the Louis Napoléon 1st salon in Fontainebleau (Marcion, cabinetmaker to Napoleon, Jean-Pierre Planchon, pages 54 and 55 ).

If we know different models of armchairs or armchairs whose armrests end in the muzzles of lions, swans, sphinxes or caryatids, those with the heads of griffins or eagles are extremely rare.

Very comfortable seats with thick gusseted cushions. All trimmed with good quality beige leather, in good used condition.
Each with its cylindrical cushion.

Good used condition, some old restorations.

Consulate period, between 1798 and 1803.

Each shepherdess is stamped P. MARCION

Pierre-Benoît Marcion (1769-1840),
was one of the suppliers of Napoleon I. From the time of the Directory, he ran a workshop and a cabinetmaking store, rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, near rue Chabanais, "Aux Égyptiens", and published advertisements inviting the public to see his " choice of genre furniture, in mahogany wood, richly decorated with bronze, according to the beautiful forms of Etruscan, Egyptian, Greek and Roman Antiquities. His house having grown in importance was soon transferred to rue Helvétius (formerly Sainte-Anne), then rue Saint-Marc. In 1806, Marcion presented tenders to the Garde-meuble for the supply of boat beds, sofas, winged chairs and armchairs, seats with “saber sheath” legs, psyches, tripod washbasins, somnos or bedside tables , etc. A large number of works were requested from him for the palaces of Saint-Cloud, Trianon, Compiègne, Fontainebleau and Rambouillet. One of his
capital works was the bed of the Empress Marie-Louise which he executed in 1809. This berth, all in gilded walnut, offered very rich sculptures decorated with swans, garlands and foliage; it was completed by two torchieres bearing kneeling figures which supported the draperies of the canopy.
Marcion was also entrusted with considerable work for the service of the ministers and grand officers of the Crown. Victim of a crisis which raged throughout French industry in the last years of Napoleon's reign, this cabinetmaker went bankrupt in 1814. The State collections contain a few pieces bearing the P. MARCION stamp.

Bibliography:
-Marcion - Napoleon's cabinetmaker - Jean-Pierre Planchon - Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau, Monelle Hayot - 2007
-French Furniture of the 18th Century - Pierre Kjellberg - Les Editions de l'Amateur - 2008
-The cabinetmakers of the 18th century - Count François de Salverte - Les éditions d'Art et d'Histoire - 1934

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