Cleveland Museum of Art

Armchair (1 of 4)

Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops

Date

before 1717

Medium

carved wood, Savonnerie knotted-pile (symmetrical rug knot) upholstery; wool, hemp

Culture

France, 18th century

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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