Probably German work, middle of the 18th century
Carved and gilt wood
Of sinuous lines and a flat backrest, this “à la reine” chair, of strong aesthetic, presents an important carved décor The rectangular backrest with rounded corners and strong shoulders is constituted of crossbars and mounts forming an accolade. It is topped with a shell and an important and profound décor of gadrooned leaves and florals.
The belt of the chair is also adorned with a profound, carved and pierced décor. In the center, a heart-shaped cartel composed of asymmetrical gadrooned leaves is framed by volutes. The crossbar of nervous curves is also craved with leaves of a similar décor, which join in the upper part of the legs. The latter, S‑shaped with a strong curve, are embellished with shells at the top and continue with volutes at the extremity. Leaves complete the beginning of the volute and the sides. A similar strong and carved ornamentation on the sides of the seat, centered on heart-shaped and pierced frameworks can be seen.
A German rocaille chair
This chair is a great example of what was the production of German carpenters in chairs during the middle of the Rococo period. Indeed, foreign influences, mainly French and English, were important in the art of German furniture of the eighteenth century, and carpenters adopted certain models of seats by their transfigurations, often exaggerating the style. A powerful aesthetic with deep sculpture saw the light of day in the field of seats carpentry. This chair, by its important sculpted decoration and its strength of lines, can be linked to this style.
Of “furnishing” type, with a high and flat backrest, it was destined to be placed against a wall and to be integrated to the decoration.
The importance and the quality of the sculpture responds probably to a particular commission destined to apparatus as attests also the gilding while expressing with talent a strong taste for exaggeration with strongly violoned mounts adorned of hypertensive curves and the S‑shaped legs, with a pronounced serpentine line, present in the South of Germany. By its large proportions and a big, shouldered backrest, the profound sculpture and its decor involving Rocaille and pure and naturalistic ornaments such as the garlands of flowers on the upper backrest and the front of the sitting as well as on each side of the central cartel, this chair could perfectly be inserted into the rocaille aesthetic developed in the middle of the 18th century in the country. The carved motif, totally asymmetrical, such as the central cartel on the front crossbar of the sitting and even more the cutting very characteristic of the legs, in an S‑shape with a strong hump ended with a volute, can be found on various chairs of this period, thus expressing by its general shape the French inspiration, having highly marked the chair furniture from the Rococo period associated with a vaguely English Chippendale style, which can be perceived in the pronounced taste of the pierced motifs.
The Rococo period
The term Rococo has appeared in France around 1730. It resolved in a combination of the term “rocaille” in French, to designate an ornamentation imitating rocks and natural stones and the curbed shape of several shells as well as the Italian term “barocco”. For a long period pejorative, this word was adopted in the middle of the 19th century to designate an artistic European movement as a whole. In Italy, the term “barocchetto”, derived from the Baroque term can also be used. It highlights the use of this name to designate pieces created after the decline of the Baroque movement influenced by those created in France under the Regency period (1715−1722) and under Louis XV (1722−1774), which were developed in Italy several years apart.
Responding to the evolution of the French society in the last years of the reign of Louis XIV, but furthermore to the reign of Louis XV, which, after the severity and the rigor of the last years of the reign of Louis XIV, aspired to more lightness, the Rocaille aesthetic was diffused throughout Europe, using to do so curved and counter-curves associated with ornamental elements using again the grotesque motif of the Renaissance (masks, acanthus leaves, shells). The Rococo, as it was developed in Italy and in Germany, conserved the French rocaille vocabulary inspired of nature, asymmetry and a game of lines, while insufflating a more theatrical spirit, which kept a certain Baroque exuberance while preserving opulent shapes and a rich ornamentation.
Bibliography
- Sarah D. Coffin, Gail S. Davidson, Ellen Lupton, Penelope Hunter-Stiebel, Rococo. The Continuing Curve, 1730–2008, New York, Smithsonian, Mars 2008.
- Helen Costantino Fioratti, Il mobile italiano dall’antichità allo stile Impero, Firenze – Milano, Giunti, 2004.
- Alvar González-Palacios, I mobili italiani, Milano, Gruppo BNL, 1996.
- Mina Gregori, Renato Ruotolo, Luisa Bandera Gregori, « Le mobilier italien de la Renaissance à l’Art Déco », Antiquités & Objets d’art, n°10, 1990.
Measurements:
- Height: 104 cm – 41 inches
- Width: 64 cm – 25 inches
- Depth: 51 cm – 20 inches
