Lot 36

A VENETIAN BAROQUE ARMCHAIR

An armchair with rich gilt three-dimensional Baroque ornamentation. The leg rung, arms and struts are decorated with stylized acanthine tendrils and a foliage motif with a notched band with volute terminals. Festoons and three putti in high relief decorate the front leg rung and rear areas of the armrests. The upholstery was restored using traditional methods with jute, hemp straps and cords, and African grass and horsehair filling.

According to PhDr. Jiří Fronek, PhD, curator of the historical furniture and wood carving collections at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the armchair is based on a type of ceremonial armchair from the Venetian Seicento. In the last decade, Venice-trained Andrea Brustolon (1662–1732) especially enriched the style with sculpted elements of Moors in the armrest struts and putti reclining on the armrests. Renowned Venetian architect Baldassare Longhena had earlier integrated similar motifs of three-dimensional putti with garlands into the column architecture of a palace façade. The armchair has a counterpart with the dame provenance in the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (the owner of the armchair states that the armchair came from the estate of the noble family Alberoni). Expert assessment by PhDr. Jiří Fronek, PhD. Restored.