Pair of Carved Roman Baroque Armchairs

c. 1690

A pair of carved giltwood Roman Baroque armchairs or "Poltrone" (Italian, c. 1690). The chairs have tall upholstered backs and tall pierced crestings. Each chair is carved at the center with a grotesque mask supporting an escutcheon: one is charged with the Barberini family arms (three bees, surmounted by a crown) and the other with Borghese family arms (eagle over a dragon). The shoulders of both feature C-scrolls, flame ornament, foliage and pendant husk ornament, all in high-relief. The shaped and molded armrests also feature carved foliage and scrolls resting on curved scrollwork legs carved at the bases with cherubic heads straining to look upwards. Wide stuff-over seats with concave fronts, raised on front legs formed of C-scrolls with cherub's head in full relief and foliate S-scroll foot. Shaped and scrolled cruciform stretchers centered by grotesque masks with feathered headdress. Old red silk velvet upholstery with applique tapes removed in 1980, recovered with modern red velvet.

Italy

giltwood

190.5 x 96.5 x 96.5 cm (75 x 38 x 38 inches)

Gift of Countess Ferdinandine Eltz, 1972.

PSNC.2533.1-.2