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Lot Essay
The bold design of this magnificent pair of hall chairs is emblamatic of the birth of Venus. Born from the sea, she floated to shore on a scallop shell, landing in Paphos, Cyprus, one of the principal centers of her worship in antiquity. The dolphins are also a symbol of her birth from the water.
This spectacular model of chair which was for use in halls or garden grottoes/banqueting houses is similar to a model with scallop shaped back and seat originally supplied to Francis Basset, Esq. of Tehidy Park, Cornwall and sold Christie's London, 5 December 1991, lot 217 ($68,145). The influence for this pair of hall armchairs is drawn from Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker's Director, 1762, third edition, pl. XXIV. The Chippendale drawing further embraces the iconography of Venus with legs carved in the form of dolphins.
A table of matching design in the collection of Danielle Bernini and Raffaele Martinelli is illustrated in World of Interiors, December 1999, p. 149.
This spectacular model of chair which was for use in halls or garden grottoes/banqueting houses is similar to a model with scallop shaped back and seat originally supplied to Francis Basset, Esq. of Tehidy Park, Cornwall and sold Christie's London, 5 December 1991, lot 217 ($68,145). The influence for this pair of hall armchairs is drawn from Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker's Director, 1762, third edition, pl. XXIV. The Chippendale drawing further embraces the iconography of Venus with legs carved in the form of dolphins.
A table of matching design in the collection of Danielle Bernini and Raffaele Martinelli is illustrated in World of Interiors, December 1999, p. 149.