Set of thirteen mahogany armchairs, carved and gilded, with straight back and slightly bowed front. Top rail carved with hipped foliate scrolls and central palmette. Armrests terminate in lions' heads. Front legs in form of lions' paws. Variously upholstered in green and red silk damask. These armchairs form part of a very extensive suite of seat furniture made for George IV's new Private Apartments at Windsor Castle. Originally consisting of fifty-six pieces (twelve sofas, sixteen armchairs and twenty-eight side chairs), the suite was divided between the Crimson Drawing Room and the Small or White Drawing Room and cost the enormous sum of £13,886 (not including the material for upholstery). By 1830, a number of pieces from both rooms had been removed to the State Apartments or to store, owing to lack of space. Some of the excess pieces were used to complete the refurnishing of Buckingham Palace in the 1830s and 1840s. The French inspiration for the design of the suite, seen at an early stage in the room elevations prepared for George IV, points clearly to the influence of F.H.G. Jacob-Desmalter. One of the leading furniture-makers of the First Empire, Jacob-Desmalter was invited over from Paris, probably in 1826, to assist Morel in designing furniture for the Windsor project. The pieces for the Crimson Drawing Room were originally upholstered en suite with the walls and curtains in an expensive poppy-coloured striped velvet, supplied by the mercer W.E. King. The velvet was replaced in 1869 with a crimson silk brocatelle of the same pattern which in turn was changed by Queen Mary in the early twentieth century to a bold Italianate design in pink silk. Following the fire of 1992, the upholstery (including curtains and wall-hangings) was changed back to crimson silk in the original striped pattern. The Crimson Drawing Room, designed by Wyatville in a rich late classical style, was intended as the principal reception room of the new Private Apartments. It consciously evokes the room of the same name at Carlton House and incorporates furniture and fittings from that room. The Crimson Drawing Room was almost totally destroyed during the fire of 1992, but has since been meticulously reconstructed and houses the original furniture, in store at the time of the fire. This and the adjoining rooms were first opened to the public in 1998. Catalogue entry from Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London 2002