Upholstered Corner Chair with Glass Ball Feet

View Similar Items

Antique English Victorian Bamboo Corner Chair Silk Upholstered Seat Dragon Scene

Bavarian Corner Chair

French Caned Corner Chair

Carved English Mahogany Corner Chair

Antique Rural Dutch Carved Corner Bobbin Chair with New Rush

Pair of French Oak Corner Chairs

Brutalist Corner Chair Oak Rush, 1970s

Antique Rural Dutch Carved Corner Bobbin Chair with New Rush Nr2

Chinese Hongmu Corner Chair, 19th Century

Quality Victorian Edwardian Mahogany Inlaid Corner Chair

Pair 19th Century Mahogany Corner Chairs

Pair of Boucle Upholstered Nest Chairs

1 of 3

Upholstered Corner Chair with Glass Ball Feet

About the Item

Carved walnut with brass studs and distinctive glass ball and wooden organically carved claw feet. Upholstered seat and back. With its rivet-like brass studs, its amazing and amusing carved finials and its bold glass ball and carved wooden claw feet, this corner or “roundabout” chair is attributed to Louis Comfort Tiffany, who designed furniture and interiors beginning about 1878. The similarity of its exuberantly carved feet and brass stud decoration to furnishings done by Tiffany for the Veteran’s Room at New York’s Seventh Regiment Armory as well as to various pieces designed by him for Rochester’s William S. Kimball House in 1881 would appear to date the present chair to that approximate date. An inlaid, white holly armchair now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art which is attributed to Tiffany also has distinctive glass ball feet. Slightly later furniture designed by Tiffany, working with his friend and colleague Samuel Colman (1832-1920) in 1890-91 for the Henry O. Havemeyer House, also has related detailing, such as the tapering clustered fascia-like supports below the finials. Those pieces, however, generally have a more delicate, less robust profile than this unique example. While both of the amusing carved finials on this roundabout chair feature a bear grasping a pumpkin, it is interesting to note each is differently ornamented. Two other seating pieces from the suite that included this chair are known, and have the same distinctive foliate carved paw and glass ball feet. One of these is a side chair (see #448-I-CH), which also has individualized finials (of an egret and a toad), while the other is a large armchair featuring unusual owls perched atop its back. The later detail would appear to match the stair newel post carvings on the Namouna, a yacht designed by L. C. Tiffany in 1881. Literature/References: Bolger, Doreen, Jonathan Freedman, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, et al, In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Rizzoli, 1986, p. 123-127, and ill. 4.13 and 4.14.

Attributed to:
Louis Comfort Tiffany (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 41 in (104.14 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)Depth: 25 in (63.5 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Walnut
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1881-1883
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Cleaned and polished. Three chips to talons. Replacement upholstery.
Seller Location:
Southport, CT
Reference Number:
Seller: #5711stDibs: U120924950531