Skip to main content
Collections Menu

Armchair

Dateca. 1730–70
MediumDyed wool and silk yarns on wool on warps on walnut frames
Dimensions40 1/2 x 28 x 24 1/2 in. (102.9 x 71.1 x 62.2 cm) Frames (average): 41 1/4 × 28 3/4 × 32 1/4 in. (104.8 × 73 × 81.9 cm) Covers (average): backs: 26 1/2 × 23 1/4 in. (67.3 × 59.1 cm) Covers (average): seats: 28 3/8 × 29 1/4 in. (72.1 × 74.3 cm)
Credit LineHenry Clay Frick Bequest
Accession number1910.5.24
Commentary

The origin and date of production of these unusual chairs (1910.5.24-31) are uncertain, but the style and quality of the carved wood frames suggest they were made in Paris around 1730 or in a French province ten to fifteen years later. On the other hand, the tapestries feature shadows cast by the bouquets on the ground color, a highly original refinement that appeared only in the late 1760s at the French Royal tapestry manufactory of the Gobelins and earlier in tapestries produced in the Netherlands. The latter origin is supported by the composition of bouquets of flowers and fruits with insects, birds, and small animals (dragonfly, moth, snail, and parrot) more common in the Netherlands than in France. The frames and tapestry covers may have been assembled at a later date.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.

Collection History

Rodolphe Kann, Paris. Duveen. Frick, 1910.

Source: Furniture in The Frick Collection: French 18th- & 19th-Century Furniture (Pt. 2) & Gilt Bronzes. Volume VI. New York: The Frick Collection, 1992.

Not On View
Armchair with Tapestry Covers Showing Fruit
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Armchair with Tapestry Cover Showing Bouquets of Flowers
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Armchair with Tapestry Cover Showing Bouquets of Flowers, three-quarters view
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Armchair with Tapestry Cover Showing Bouquets of Flowers
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Armchair with Tapestry Covers Showing Fruit
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Armchair with Tapestry Covers Showing Fruit
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Armchair with Tapestry Covers Showing Fruit, three-quarters view
Probably French
ca. 1730–70
Copyright © 1998-2024 The Frick Collection. All Rights Reserved.
FacebookYoutubeInstagramTwitterGoogle Arts and Culturemenusearch2xX