Carved Office Chairs and Desk Chairs

A very fine pair of palatial Venetian walnut carved mid-19th century Baroque figural throne armchairs, attributed to Valentino Panciera Besarel (Venice, 1829-1902) in the manner of Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732). The ornately carved thrones, each flanked with figures of standing males supporting a branch-carved armrests with vines. Raised on cabriolet scrolled legs. Provenance: The Castello di Giove in Umbria, Italy, circa 1870-1880. Height: 54 1/4 inches (137.8 cm.) Width: 37 1/4 inches (94.6 cm.) Depth: 32 inches (81.3 cm.) Andrea Brustolon (20 July 1662 – 25 October 1732) was an Italian sculptor in wood. He is known for his furnishings in the Baroque style and devotional sculptures. Biography He was trained in a vigorous local tradition of sculpture in his native Belluno, in the Venetian terraferma, and in the studio of the Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi, who was carrying out commissions at Padua and at Venice (1677). He spent the years 1678-80 at Rome, where the High Baroque sculpture of Bernini and his contemporaries polished his style. Apart from that, the first phase of Brustolon's working career was spent in Venice, 1680–1685. Brustolon is documented at several Venetian churches where he executed decorative carving in such profusion that he must have quickly assembled a large studio of assistants. As with his contemporary in London, Grinling Gibbons almost all the high quality robust Baroque carving in Venice has been attributed to Brustolon at one time or another. In the Venetian Ghetto, at the Scola Levantina, Brustolon provided the woodwork for the synagogue on the piano nobile, where the carved, canopied bimah is supported on Solomonic columns, which Brustolon had seen in Bernini's baldacchino in the Basilica of St Peter's. His furniture included armchairs with figural sculptures that take the place of front legs and armrest supports, inspired by his experience of Bernini's Cathedra Petri. The gueridon, a tall stand for a candelabrum, offered Brustolon unhampered possibilities for variations of the idea of a caryatid or atlas: the familiar Baroque painted and ebonized figural gueridons, endlessly reproduced since the eighteenth century, found their models in Brustolon's work. His secular commissions from Pietro Venier, of the Venier di San Vio family (a suite of forty sculptural pieces that can be seen in the Sala di Brustolon of the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice), from the Pisani of Strà, and from the Correr di San Simeone families encourage the attribution to him of some extravagantly rich undocumented moveable furniture. Andrea Brustolon's elaborate carved furniture aspired towards the condition of sculpture, such as the Dutch bases for console tables which look like enlargements of the work of the two Van Vianens, Paulus and Adam, perhaps the greatest Dutch silversmiths of the period. These carved pieces display the baroque tendency to develop a form three-dimensionally in space. Brustolon's walnut, boxwood and ebony pieces transcend ordinary functional limitations of furniture; they are constructed of elaborately carved figures. The framework of Brustolon's chairs, side tables and gueridons were carved as gnarled tree branches, with further supports of putti and male figures carved in ebony. Backrests of the chairs, which were never touched in the rigidly upright posture that contemporary etiquette demanded, were carved with allegories of vanity, fire and music, etc. The most extravagant piece delivered for Pietro Venier was a large side table and vase-stand of box and ebony, designed as a single ensemble to display rare imported Japanese porcelain vases. The eclectic allegories include Hercules with the Hydra and Cerberus, males and reclining river-gods (see ref.). For the Correr, less extrovert chairs bear female nudes extended along the armrests. For the Pisani, he carved a suite of twelve chairs (now at the Palazzo Quirinale) with flowers, fruit, leaves and branches to symbolize the twelve months of the year. Work by Brustolon is at the Villa Pisani at Stra. In 1685 Brustolon returned to the house where he was born at Belluno, and from that time devoted himself mainly to tabernacles and devotional sculptures in walnut, boxwood or ivory. His polychromed ivory Corpus from a crucifix is in the Museo Civico di Belluno, which preserves some of Brustolon's preparatory drawings for frames to be carved with putti displaying emblems. A pair of boxwood sculptures, The Sacrifice of Abraham and Jacob Wrestling with the Angel...

A fine quality, beautifully hand carved and constructed walnut armchair in the manner of Giles Grendey (1693-1780). Hoop back design being of open strap...

John Pollard Seddon. A rare Gothic Revival armchair with carved dogs heads to the arms, and inlaid dot details. This was probably made by his family firm Thomas Seddon (Seddon and Co), New Bond Street London. Founded by his Great Grandfather George Seddon They supplied furniture to Windsor castle and Buckingham Palace. J P Seddon exhibited a similar style armchair on the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co stand at the 1862 International Exhibition, illustrated in Jeremy Coopers Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, page 104 illustration 220 showing the original drawing and 227 (a variation of this chair) image attached. There is another version illustrated in Nineteenth Century Design by Charlotte Gere and Michael Whiteway, page 84 illustration pl 83 (last 2 images). Interestingly at one point Seddon's partner was E. W. Godwin, a friend of the Pre-Raphaelites and some of his pupils were Ford Maddox...

A very good quality late 19th century Chippendale influenced mahogany desk / armchair. Have wonderful faded leather upholstery. Carved mythical lion masks to the arm rests and raised...

A fine pair of French early 20th century Regency style mahogany carved armchairs, each upholstered in a light cream color pleather,...

Antique French walnut throne chair or armchair that was completely disassembled, cleaned, glued, and reupholstered with new springs, padding, and high quality dark brown leather. Perfect utilized as either a cozy chair...

19th century Gothic Renaissance style ebonized side chair with boldly carved paw feet, upholstered seat and back. Newly reupholstered with small animal print fabric.  

The early 19th century desk chair with ram's head arms and turned legs, is attributable to Jacob Desmalter and dates to circa 1805.

Shapland and Petter. A rare Arts & Crafts oak chair in the style of M H Baillie Scott with slatted angled back and upside down heart cut-outs around the apron below the seat on shape...

American mahogany Martha Washington armchair with serpentine slant high back, reeded scrolled and squared arms, terminating on reeded squared curvatu...

Empire mahogany desk chair or fauteuil de bureau.

A comfortable chair crafted of solid teak and still wearing its original green tweed upholstery. This chair was most likely part of an office suite for entertaining, mad men style. E...

Decorate a study or office with this elegant pair of vintage armchairs. Crafted in Provence, France, circa 1990, each chair stands on cabriole legs decorated with leaf motifs at the ...

An Austrian Biedermeier period wooden armchair from the 19th century, with unusual horseshoe back, out-curving arms, intertwined semi-circular motifs, turned and saber legs and green...

American high Victorian "Sailors' motif medusa medallion armchair, an intricate and amusing high Victorian armchair. The backrest a carved with a t...

This is a rare Dutch marquetry arm chair that has lived a long life and is now ready to show itself off in just that right spot in your home. The satinwood inlay work on this chair i...

Pair of period Napoleon III petite side chairs with hand carved ribbon top, covered in black and white French toile fabric. Keywords: vanity chair...

Arts and crafts French Caquetoire armchair Gothic revival. Unusual revolving desk chair. Carved oak with polychrome gilding. Highly decorative ecclesiastic church chair. Superb accen...