Inlaid Moorish Hoshiarpur Bench

Syrian mother of pearl inlaid wooden bench with elegantly winged curving arms. The intricately carved wood is inlaid with geometric stars...

The rectangular padded seat covered in brown leather, opening to reveal a set of library steps, over a solid inlaid seat-rail and ring-turned tapering legs ending in castors. 18in. high, 34 1/2in. wide and 16 1/2in. deep. Opened, 36in. high and 49in. wide. Rooms organized during the Regency period as libraries often had floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The upper shelves were difficult to reach, so movable library stairs were invaluable. Further, libraries were one of the most important rooms in a stately house, symbol of its owner's wealth, culture and status. As a consequence, designers, architects and cabinet or chair makers devoted much attention to its architecture and decoration. Hence, the emrgence of innovative ideas such as our bench. Enter the Regency era metamorphic library chair/bench (chairs are more common than benches)! The tables, chairs and stools containing library steps were patented in Great Britain by Robert Campbell in 1774 but this innovative chair-based design did not become immediately popular. Once the Regency was established, a neo-classical interpretation of Campbell’s Metamorphic Library Chair concept started to become popular in London. Any early attributions rely heavily on two contemporary sketches...

A Spanish carved wooden arm-bench with back from the mid 20th century. This vintage natural wood bench from Spain is adorn with Moorish influenced carvings, featuring a high back with undulating crest in a fan-carved motif with pierced center. The backside and seat are richly textured, with rectangular seat extending out beyond the curvy arms. This piece is raised on a pair of canted, trestle board style legs, with long solid legs at front and rear. Skirt is nicely decorated with hand-carvings and three arch-shaped cut outs create feet along the front and backside of the bench. This mid-century Spanish bench with Moorish style carvings would make a great hall bench...

This wonderful piece of functional antique is already unique in its original form, but after our decision to reupholster it, it truly stands out! It was made at the end of the 19th c...