Object details
Accession number
F26n9.1-6
Primary Creator
Italian, Trentino-Alto Adige
Full title
Set of Six Chairs (Sedie)
Creation Date
about 1800
Provenance
Possibly purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner’s husband, John L. Gardner, Jr. (1837–1898), from the antique dealer Consiglio Ricchetti, Venice on 13 September 1897 for 240 lire (for set of six chairs).
Dimensions
92.5 x 44.3 x 39.2 cm (36 7/16 x 17 7/16 x 15 7/16 in.)
Display Media
Cherry
Web Commentary
These chairs are supported by fluted front legs that taper towards pear-shaped feet. At the tops are turned bobbins. In contrast, the stiles are simple pots connected by a stretcher. Plaques carved with corollas mark the centers of the rails. The back consists of a square frame with an arched crest. Centered on the pierced splats are plaques draped with parted curtains. Each chair has a different geometric or foliate motif within the plaque.
Although the chairs possess a simple elegance, the Neoclassical motifs are handled in a summary and schematic fashion. The slighly naive quality of the carving, and the fact that many elements have been left unadorned, suggests that they were made outside the major urban centers of northern Italy.
Permanent Gallery Location
Titian Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston: 1935), p. 215. (Italian, early 19th century)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston: 2011), p. 259, no. 120.
Rights and reproductions
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