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Lot Essay
As J. Boccador explains that such 'sedie dantesche' - or 'sièges à tenailles' as their French counterparts are called - were first conceived in Tuscany and became fashionable in France under the reign of Henri II (r.1547-1559), specifically under the influence of Catherine de Médicis (see J. Boccador, le Mobilier Français du Moyen-Age à la Renaissance, Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988, pp.148-9, fig.110, for two related examples).
A closely related 'dantesca' armchair is in Palazzo Davanzati, Florence (ill. H. & F. Schottmüller, Wohnungskultur und Möbel der Italienischen Renaissance, Stuttgart, 1921, p.176, fig.400), while a further related example is in the Bardini Collection, Florence (ill. W.M. Odom, A History of Italian Furniture, vol. I, New York, 1966, p. 37, fig. 35). Amongst related examples sold at auction, a pair was sold from the collection of the late Sir Stephen Courtauld, Sotheby's, London, 6 December 1974, lot 96, and another, Christie's, London, 4 November 2010, lot 82.
A closely related 'dantesca' armchair is in Palazzo Davanzati, Florence (ill. H. & F. Schottmüller, Wohnungskultur und Möbel der Italienischen Renaissance, Stuttgart, 1921, p.176, fig.400), while a further related example is in the Bardini Collection, Florence (ill. W.M. Odom, A History of Italian Furniture, vol. I, New York, 1966, p. 37, fig. 35). Amongst related examples sold at auction, a pair was sold from the collection of the late Sir Stephen Courtauld, Sotheby's, London, 6 December 1974, lot 96, and another, Christie's, London, 4 November 2010, lot 82.