1850 Ladies Cacqetoire Gothic Ballgown Chair 19th Century French Cathedral

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About the Item

French 1847 Gothic Cathedral armchair. The fantasy element of the gothic tradition is alive and well in this symbolic carved luminary and stately armchair. It is well worn with time and the wood is as smooth as driftwood however grooved and almost 200 hundred years old. The armchair is classic caquetoires - trapezoidal-shaped seat echoed below in the stretcher. This shape, also referred to 'as in the manner of Tallemouze,' is another charming example of design evoking food: the 'talmouse' was a triangular puff pastry dating from medieval times but now recognized as the ancestor of the cheesecake. The origin of the term caquetoire, however, is a bit sexist to the modern observer. According to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the caquetoire was developed as a conversation chair for women (the French verb "caqueter" means "to chat"). The broad, trapezoidal seat accommodated wide dresses worn by ladies of the 16th century who otherwise had been relegated to stools or window seats (except in the case of aristocracy and royalty) while their male counterparts sat on chairs. Other features of the armchair harking back to the haute époque caquetoire include the narrow back out of which curving arms attach to posts in the shape of columns extending vertically from the seat. What attracted us to them was that the decoration is Gothic, in the nature of fenestrage or the tracery patterns found in windows of Gothic cathedrals. That Gothic elements would be used by a 19th century creator of a chair whose design owes its origins to the Renaissance reinforces the notion that Gothic and Renaissance coexisted quite comfortably in the 19th century revival of both styles in France. The intricate hand-carving of the backs and the railing feature of the top displays the best of Gothic design in 19th century reinterpretation. For example, the railing feature is typically seen atop benches and chayres or thrones for bishops. And the elongated central panel of the back of each chair is more often seen in sets of dining chairs where each chair is slightly different within the overall effect of the tracery. The columns supporting the armrest and the seats again evoke Gothic cathedral design in their diagonal fluting, including alternating plain and entrelac or overlapping patterns. More Renaissance in nature is the curving armrest rather than the more angular version favored in other caquetoires, such as #4149. Reference Boccador, Jacqueline, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988); Boussel, Patrice, Les Styles du Moyen Age à Louis XIV (Baschet et Cie, Paris, 1979);Rousseau, Francis, Le Grand Livre des Meubles (Copyright Studio, Paris, 1999).

Dimensions:
Height: 60 in (152.4 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)Depth: 18 in (45.72 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
Style:
Gothic (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Oak,Carved
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1840-1849
Date of Manufacture:
1847
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Sarasota, FL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU3284315308451