Research
This rare and beautifully executed example of an early 18th century swiveling chair is one of very few known fully rotating armchairs from this date. Rotating chairs can be found as far back as 16th century France, though they became more popular centuries later. Figure 1 depicts a French swivel armchair from the Château Ecouen, dating from the late 1500s. In the 1700s the concept was incorporated into the fauteuil de bureau, or desk chair, for greater mobility in the workspace. The present chair is an early rococo example of a rotating armchair that is further distinguished by its very fine carved and painted decoration. It retains its exceptional original ochre and green coloring, which, very unusually, simulates the grain of green-colored wood.
Several unusual elements are combined to form the body of the present chair. A mask tops the backrest, lending a remarkable anthropomorphic quality to the piece. This is further enhanced by the armrests, which terminate in foliate scrolls that resemble hands. The armrests issue from the mouths of two marine beasts whose dorsal edges can be seen to comprise the “shoulders” of the chair.
The rocaille and diaperwork motifs of this chair perfectly describe the decorative idiom of German rococo found in contemporaneous furniture and architectural designs, such as, for example, the ceiling of the Kammerkapelle in Neues Schloss Schleißheim.
A comparable, yet much-simplified, chair from the middle of the 18th century is illustrated in figure 2. While it lacks the profuse polychrome carving of the present chair, it is also of walnut and its shape is very much the same.