Getty Museum

Four Side Chairs (chaises à la reine)

Date

1780–1781

Medium

Gessoed and gilded beech; modern silk upholstery

Culture

French

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

In France in the 1700s, chairs came in a variety of shapes and sizes as furniture became increasingly specialized. These comfortably padded chairs, with tall flat backs and low seats are called *chaises à la reine*, which translates to “chair in the queen’s manner.” For these particular chairs, a queen actually owned them – Marie-Antoinette. They formed part of a set of eight armchairs and eight side chairs made for her. They furnished a sitting room in the Belvedere Pavilion located in the gardens of the palace of Versailles. The carving displays many of the design elements of the Neoclassical style: bands of ivy, laurel wreaths, and decorative ridges known as fluting.*

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