Charles-Honoré Lannuier, French-born American cabinetmaker (1779–1819), lived and worked in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. In Lannuier's time, the style of his furniture was described as "French Antique." Today his work is classified primarily as Federal furniture

Federal furniture

Federal furniture refers to American furniture produced in the federal style, which lasted from approximately 1789 to 1823. Notable furniture makers who worked in this style included Duncan Phyfe and Charles-Honoré Lannuier...

, Neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

, or American Empire

American Empire (style)

American Empire is a French-inspired Neoclassical style of American furniture and decoration that takes its name and originates from the Empire style introduced during the First French Empire period under Napoleon's rule. It gained its greatest popularity in the U.S...

.

Early life and influences

Charles-Honoré Lannuier was born outside of Paris in Chantilly, France, on June 27, 1779, son to Michel-Cyrille Lannuier, an innkeper, and his wife, Marie-Geneviève Malice. From childhood, Charles-Honoré Lannuier was influenced by his older brother, Nicolas-Louis-Cyrille Lannuier, and an uncle, Jean-Baptiste Cochois, successful cabinetmakers selling furniture in pre-Revolutionary Paris. Both relatives contributed to Lannuier's training as an ébéniste

Ébéniste

Ébéniste is the French word for a cabinetmaker, whereas in French menuisier denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker. The English equivalent for "ébéniste," "ebonist," is never commonly used. Originally, an ébéniste was one who worked with ebony, a favoured luxury wood for mid-seventeenth century...

(furniture maker). The social unrest and disruption of the economy by the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 caused Lannuier to emigrate to the young American republic in 1803. Though the French Revolution brought the disbandment of the furniture guilds, and the associated fashionable practice of labeling pieces with a maker's label, Lannuier continued that tradition in the U.S. despite its lack of guilds.

Materials and decorative motifs

In Paris, Charles-Honoré Lannuier worked primarily in mahogany, with limited amounts of satinwood and rosewood veneer inlays. Early pieces show the influence of late Louis XVI-style furniture. After moving to the United States, Lannuier benefitted from the more stable economy and access to exotic hardwoods, which allowed him to work on a larger scale using solid pieces of precious woods.

Lannuier's furniture is characterized by its use of architectural motifs–-columns, brackets, pediments, and pilasters; Greek and Roman motifs including anthemion

Palmette

The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...

s, lyres, caryatid

Caryatid

A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...

s, dolphins, laurel wreath

Laurel wreath

A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel , an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head...

s, and winged figures. Federal motifs associated with the early Republic include eagles and five- or six-pointed stars. Large figures were carved and gilded, while smaller decorative mounts were cast in bronze and gilded.

Range of furniture

Lannuier's earlier work included sideboards, commodes, worktables, dining tables and chairs, and game tables. As the Empire style became more entrenched, and his success grew, Lannuier produced larger, more expensive pieces including sofas, cylinder desks, and bedsteads. While his pieces are considered within the Empire style, Lannuier's work is distinct for being more delicate and for recalling the refinment found in the Directoire style. Examples of Lannuier's furniture can be seen in the White House Red Room

Red Room (White House)

The Red Room is one of three state parlors on the first floor in the White House, the home of the President of the United States. The room has served as a parlor and music room, and recent presidents have held small dinner parties in it. It has been traditionally decorated in shades of red.The...

, the Albany Institute of History and Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...

, and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...

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External links

• Mary Anne Hunting, Charles-Honoré Lannuier: Cabinetmaker from New York