ATTRIBUTED TO PAULY ET CIE., LATE 19TH CENTURY

細節

A VENETIAN POLYCHROME DECORATED CRAB-FORM CHAIR
ATTRIBUTED TO PAULY ET CIE., LATE 19TH CENTURY
With hinged top opening to form a padded seat on rockwork upright and base
19 in. (48 cm.) high, closed
41 in. (104 cm.) high, open

注意事項

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

拍品專文

This fantastical chair is an example of Grotto furniture, so called after the fashion amongst the European nobility for building whimsical shell-encrusted grottos during the 18th and 19th centuries. Almost certainly of Venetian origin, there were by the mid 19th century a number of workshops specialising in the production of carved and gilt-gesso shell furniture in Venice, of which Pauly et Cie. was the leading firm by the 1880s.

A comparable seat, modelled as a turtle, as opposed to crab as the present lot, sold Christie's, London, 13 May 2008, lot 520 (£22,100). A further example of which is illustrated in D. Linley, Extraordinary Furniture, London, 1996, p. 166.