The swan, because of its association with Venus's swan-drawn carriage , provided a popular support for beds and seat furniture in the early 19th century. Pearl-wreathed swans serve as arm-supports on chairs designed for Empress Josephine by the architects Percier and Fontaine. Related pearl-wreathed swans, serving as legs and arms, featured on a pair of chairs that have been associated with the designs of the Russian architect Andrey Voronikhin that were executed in the F. Bitepage workshops, sold anonymously, Sotheby London, 24-31 May l985, lot 128. Related swans, lacking pearls, also serve as supports for a Russian table dating from around l8l0, now in the National Museum of Finland (V. Huonekaluja, Russian Furniture, 1998, p. 33.)