The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Set of Four Armchairs and Settee

Set of Four Armchairs and Settee

c. 1715
(French, est. 1627)
France, 18th century
carved wood, Savonnerie knotted-pile (symmetrical rug knot) upholstery; wool, hemp
Overall: 120 x 201.3 x 55.9 cm (47 1/4 x 79 1/4 x 22 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1947.183
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The Savonnerie factory can trace its origins to a small carpet studio which set up shop in 1615 south of Paris in a factory that had formerly made soap (savon in French), hence the name Savonnerie.

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 was 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.
  • 1717-1947
    Isabella Merode-Westerloo and Franz Joseph Czernin de Chaudnitz, original suite of tapestries and furniture commissioned for their marriage in 1717; then by descent in the family until 1930 or 1931, when they were sold to a dealer, A. & R. Ball, New York.
    1931-1947
    (A & R. Ball, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1947-?
    Cleveland Museum of Art
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned & Reproduced: cat. no. 286 archive.org
    Bidwell, Frederick E., and Leslie Cade. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New York, NY: Scala Arts Publishers, 2014. Mentioned & Reproduced: pp. 132-133
  • No existing exhibition history.
  • {{cite web|title=Set of Four Armchairs and Settee|url=false|author=Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops|year=c. 1715|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.183