The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Armchair (3 of 4)

Armchair (3 of 4)

before 1717

Description

These chairs belong to a suite that includes a settee (also in the CMA’s collection) and a tapestry made for a count and countess to mark their wedding in 1717. Furniture of this scale was usually placed against the wall in grand reception halls, more as a display of wealth than for use. Upholstered in Savonnerie tapestries, this suite was among the most treasured and expensive example anyone could own and typically reserved for royalty.

To add decorative and intellectual interest to the textiles, weavers incorporated symbols depicting various stories from the Fables of Jean de La Fontaine, published from 1668 to 1694 and largely adapted from Aesop and other early storytellers.
  • formed part of original suite of tapestries and furniture made for marriage of Isabella Merode-Westerloo and Franz Joseph Czernin de Chaudnitz in 1717; remained in the family until 1930 or 1931, when they were sold to a dealer. (A. & R. Ball, New York).
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned: cat. no. 286 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 132-133
  • {{cite web|title=Armchair (3 of 4)|url=false|author=Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops|year=before 1717|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.183.4