VENICE, SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF NORTH ITALIAN GILT-WALNUT ARMCHAIRS
Venice, second quarter 18th Century
Each with cartouche-shaped back and serpentine drop-in seat covered in 18th Century floral-embroidered silk and silvered metal thread upholstery, with pierced shell-carved cresting above down-scrolled arms on foliate-headed cabriole legs, the frames with floral cartouches throughout, one with repaired back leg, possibly originally without gilding, the 18th Century upholstery associated (2)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The richly-carved frames of these impressive armchairs, with boldly scrolling arms and pierced seat-rails and crestings carved with shells, typify the opulence of Venetian chair-making. Related Venetian armchairs are illustrated in S. Levy, Il Mobile Veneziano del Settecento, Milan, vol. I, 1964, figs. 5 and 12, while another in the Museo Civico, Milan, is illustrated in W. Odom, A History of Italian Furniture, New York, 1967, vol. II, p. 187, fig. 224. A further set of three similar Venetian armchairs, formerly in the Villa Bombrini, Genoa, was sold in these rooms, 11 December 2001, lots 82-83 (£35,000 overall exc. premium).

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