Biedermeier Shovel Chairs, Ehrenburg Castle/Saxony-Coburg and Gotha, Set of 8

Set of 8 partly early 19th German Biedermeier chairs, 3 chairs with inventory stamp of Ehrenburg Castle in Coburg/Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, 5 chairs handmade according to their model in late 20th c. Trapezoidal seat on four slender saber-shaped legs; curved, shovel-shaped backrest with carved and ebonized lyre motif. All chairs are upholstered in black horsehair fabric. 3 chairs of the chair set bear the inventory stamp of the famous Ehrenburg Palace in Coburg and are documented in the inventory there. According to a letter from the Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, Munich dated 1991, the chairs were sold in the 1920s at the latest (see photo). In order to be able to use the chairs in a dining room, the previous owner had five additional chairs modeled on the three chairs from Ehrenburg Palace reworked by a German master cabinetmaker in the late 20th century. Ehrenburg Castle was built and used by the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg (and from 1826 of Gotha) as a representative city residence. Duke Ernst I (r. 1806-1844) began the reconstruction of Ehrenburg Castle only a few years after his accession to power. It was during this period that the building received its impressive neo-Gothic facade, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich von Schinkel. Duke Ernst I commissioned the French architect André-Marie Renié-Grétry to furnish the rooms. According to his designs, the apartments were renovated between 1816 and 1840 in the French Empire style and furnished with magnificent furniture, clocks, chandeliers and tapestries of the great Parisian manufactories. Condition: very good, min. signs of age and use, min. abrasion; reupholstered (1 chair with small stain). 5 of the 8 chairs were made in the late 20th c. based on the 3 chairs from the beginning of the 19th c. to complete a larger set that can be used for a dining room table.