Chair
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved walnut, partly gilt
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Medieval and Renaissance, room 62, case WN, shelf FS
- Order this image
Italian chairs made from vase-shaped boards of wood have long been known as sgabelli, ultimately derived from the word scabellum (Latin for ‘stool’). They were often carved with fantastic monsters and grotesques, like this example, which belonged to Jules Soulages (1803–1856), a lawyer from Toulouse. His collection was exhibited at Marlborough House between December 1856 and January 1857, and subsequently bought piecemeal by this museum. Many pieces were heavily restored or made up of partly old pieces, like this example.
Physical description
Carved walnut wood chair, partly gilt. The front support of strapwork with a mask in the centre, the back of foliated ornament, flanked by two terminal figures.
Place of Origin
Venice (city) (made)
Date
1580-1600 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Carved walnut, partly gilt
Dimensions
Height: 121.7 cm
Width: 56 cm
Depth: 55 cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Object history note
From the collection of Jules Soulages
Descriptive line
Carved chestnut wood chair, Venice, 16th century.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Pollen, J. H. Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1924), p.103-4
Bode, Wilhelm. Die Italienischen Hausmöbel der Renaissance (Leipzig, 1902), p.22
Labels and date
Pair of Chairs
1580–1600
These typically Venetian chairs, called sgabelli, were fashionable in the 16th century. Made of elaborately carved wood, they have fan-shaped backs and shield-like supports. The imaginative decoration includes grotesque masks, scrolling foliage and female figures known as caryatids. [35 words]
Veneto
Walnut, partly gilded
V&A: 7179, 7183-1860
At Home in Renaissance Italy, eds.Marta Ajmar-Wollheim and Flora Dennis (London, 2006), cat.130, pl.15.23
Materials
Walnut; Gold leaf
Techniques
Gilding; Carving; Joinery
Categories
Furniture; Household objects
Production Type and Product Note
Limited edition
Collection code
FWK
