Two Armchairs (Poltrone da parata)
furniture maker
Unknown
Datemid 18th century
Place MadeEmilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe
MediumWalnut with embroidered upholstery
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberF26w2.1-2
eMuseum ID717176
EmbARK ObjectID16187
TMS Source ID4532
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis type of armchair remains heavily dependent on late-seventeenth-century designs, but the graceful curve of the arm supports and the swelling of the front legs indicate a date in the middle of the eighteenth century. The cabriole legs of the chairs, which expand grandly at the top, are attached to simple stiles by subtly shaped and molded H-stretchers. The padded arms are supported by playful s-shaped supports. Both arms of F26w2.2 were replaced at the end of the nineteeth century, while the other chair has a restored arm.
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston: 1935), p. 214. (Italian)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston: 2011), p. 258, no. 119. (as possibly from Emilia)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston: 2011), p. 258, no. 119. (as possibly from Emilia)
ProvenanceNotesEntered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection by 1903.
