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Venice, around 1580
- Material
- carved parcel gilt walnut
- Height
- 43¼ in
provenance: collection of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, bevore: private collection, Lugano
Sgabelli are ornate chairs from the Italian, primarily Venetian Renaissance. Often adorned with the coat of arms of the respective family, they were displayed in the representative rooms of the magnificent palazzi and testified to the high rank and wealth of their owners.
The shield-shaped feet as well as the backrests of the magnificent museum quality chairs shown here are decorated with the finest ornamental and figural carvings, some of which are openwork. The feet are adorned with mascarons and winged caryatids with curved upper bodies. Caryatids can also be found on the backrests. They are highly ornamental and frame the central coat of arms cartouche. A volute pediment with a mascaron and two putti serves as the upper finial.
Two almost identical sgabelli, also made in 16th century Venice, are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (inv. no. 7181-1860 and inv. no. 1782-1860).