This is a walnut armchair. The legs and sides of the chair form a loose, X-shape created by an upper and lower curved semi-circular arms and legs, notched in the center and meeting in a rounded joint on the front decorated with a carved circular flower. The front and back legs terminate with claw feet. Slightly curved arms connect the front and back sides of the chair, ending in front with a rounded hand rest, decorated on the exterior side with a multi-petaled flower, also seen on the exterior surface of the shoulder. Just below the arms, an “R” is carved in a circle. A red fabric is stretched and held in place with ornamental metal fasteners between the lower sides of the top of the X-shape and serves as the seat.The same red fabric with a row of closely-spaced, short tassels on the bottom, is stretched between the back of the arms and serves as the chair’s backrest.
Italian
Armchair or Dante Chair,
19th century
Walnut
,
95 x 70.4 x 53 cm (37 3/8 x 27 11/16 x 20 7/8 in.)
Object details
Accession number
F30w10
Primary Creator
Italian
Full title
Armchair or Dante Chair
Creation Date
19th century
Provenance
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection at an unknown date.
Marks
An 'R' inscribed in a circle appears four times on this chair: on the outside of the arms and on the backs of the stiles.
Dimensions
95 x 70.4 x 53 cm (37 3/8 x 27 11/16 x 20 7/8 in.)
Display Media
Walnut
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Gothic Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston: 1935), p. 272. (16th century)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston: 2011), p. 311, no. 159. (as 19th century, possibly with elements of the 16th century)
Rights and reproductions
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Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.