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Not currently on display at the V&A

Ceremonial Chair

1500-1600 (made), 1840-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
France (made)

High-backed chair in walnut (?) with lion's paw feet, lion's head arms and curved section running from the front of the seat to the lower edge of the back. The hinged seat lifts to reveal a large storage space, quarter cylindrical in volume. The back, sides and curved section are heavily carved with fruit, foliage, masks, herms and architectural elements.

The badge has been identified as a form of that of the House of Burgundy, a fusil and flint, adopted as his device by Philip the Bold (1419-1467), surmounting crossed logs, similarly adopted by Charles the Bold (1467-1475).

Object details

Categories
Furniture
Renaissance (French)
Object type
Ceremonial chair
Materials and techniques
Carved and joined walnut
Walnut
Carved
Brief description
Ceremonial chair of carved walnut (?), with a high back and hinged seat. French, probably created in the mid 19th century as 16th century.
Physical description
High-backed chair in walnut (?) with lion's paw feet, lion's head arms and curved section running from the front of the seat to the lower edge of the back. The hinged seat lifts to reveal a large storage space, quarter cylindrical in volume. The back, sides and curved section are heavily carved with fruit, foliage, masks, herms and architectural elements.

The badge has been identified as a form of that of the House of Burgundy, a fusil and flint, adopted as his device by Philip the Bold (1419-1467), surmounting crossed logs, similarly adopted by Charles the Bold (1467-1475).
Dimensions
  • Height: 218cm
  • At crest width: 93cm
  • Depth: 56.5cm
  • Of seat height: 63cm
Dimensions taken 29/12/2009
Marks and inscriptions
  • Transliteration
Object history
Bought for £42
Robinson reports, vol. I pt.1 30 March 1863-18 May 1868
40. 5 May 1863
"I recommend that a stall chair in carved walnut-wood of French Renaissance work, circa 1570(?) now on loan to the Museum be acquired from Mr Attenborough who offers it at the price of £42. This object was purchased by Mr Attenborough at the Soltykoff sale. Portions of it have been restored but with great taste & judgement, and on the whole it is a beautiful & characteristic work."

Historical context
Comparable 16th century throne armchairs
High-backed armchair, French, 1525-1550, rebuilt in the 19th century; Frick Collection (65.5.147), Furniture in the Frick Collection. Volume V: Renaissance Furniture, Sixteenth-century
Italian and French (David Dubon); French Furniture18th and 19th Centuries, part 1 (Theodore Dell),
(The Frick Collection, distributed by Princeton University Press, 1992), p.149ff;

Burgundian c1580 with the coat of arms of Philibert de La Meuzard des Maillots (Edith Mannoni, Mobilier Regional, La Bourgogne (Paris, 1996), p.28
Bibliographic references
  • ROWE, Eleanor (ed.), Wood carvings from the South Kensington Museum. Folio IV. Domestic Furniture (London 1889), pl.LXXIX
  • J. H. Pollen. Ancient & Modern Furniture & Woodwork. 1874, p 92. '8464-1863. CHAIR. Carved Walnut Wood, with arms and lofty back, raised on two steps; a chair of state, the surface covered with elaborate arabesque ornament, masks, terminal figures, fruit and foliage in relief. French. 16th century. H. 8 ft. 9 in., W. 3 ft. I in. by 2 ft. 3 in. Bought, 42l. A seigniorial chair, such as was used by the “ Lord ” or seigneur when he administered justice within his jurisdiction. It may have been used for the presidential chair of one of the provincial Parliaments. It has a lofty back, supported by terminal figures in the style pre-valent under Henry the Second of France. A similar figure, ending in arabesques of natural foliage well designed, occupies the panel at the back. It has a cornice in which is a coat-of-arms charged with a crown over two ragged staves crossed in saltire. It has a pedimental curved top finish. The feat curves inwards below, and the curved front panel is carved and rests on claw feet. The feat opens, and has a receptacle for the hangings and cushions with which it has been furnished on occasions of use. It stands on a step and that on a lower pedstal. It has no doubt been used for a seigniorial throne. A chair very much in the same style, but more elaborately ornamented, was used as a canons' stall in St. Giorgio Maggiore, in Venice, and is in the collection of Mr. Vaughan. '
  • Fred Roe, A History of Oak Furniture (London, 1920) plate XXXIX 16th century French
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
8464-1863

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Record createdJune 14, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O125194/ceremonial-chair-unknown/
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