Getty Museum

Four Armchairs and One Settee

Date

about 1770–1775

Medium

Carved and gilded walnut. Modern silk velvet upholstery

Culture

French

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

Object ID

1dc655e7-f196-412f-ac25-4341223ef621

These four chairs and one settee were part of a larger set, all with matching carved decoration on the wood. The set included another settee and different types of chairs, some of which appear in other museum collections in the United States and Europe. The carving could also have matched other woodwork in the room like tables, mirrors, and wall paneling. This decoration incorporates Neoclassical motifs (design elements that evoke the ancient Greeks and Romans) such as acanthus leaves on the arms, an egg-and-dart pattern encircling the round back, and ridges known as fluting on the legs. Jacques Jean Baptiste Tilliard designed this furniture set with the intention that it would be arranged against the walls around a room. His intent is clear because he did not carve their backs with the same level of detail as the fronts. This kind of furniture was called *chaises meublantes* (furnishing chairs), as opposed to *chaises courantes* (running chairs), with fine carving on all sides that people moved around the room.

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