Caquetoires Armchairs

Antiques > Furniture Dealer: M. Markley Antiques Contact: Michael Markley - Email Dealer
Price: $1,995.00 USD  - Currency Converter Number Available: 2 Shipping inside United States: Quoted at time of purchase Shipping outside United States: Quoted at time of purchase

Description: These two matching Renaissance chairs are fine examples of the 19th century revival in France of interest in designs of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The armchairs are classic caquetoires - trapezoidal-shaped seat echoed below in the stretcher. This shape, also referred to 'as in the manner of Tallemouze,' is another charming example of design evoking food: the 'talmouse' was a triangular puff pastry dating from medieval times but now recognized as the ancestor of the cheesecake. The origin of the term caquetoire, however, is a bit sexist to the modern observer. According to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the caquetoire was developed as a conversation chair for women (the French verb "caqueter" means "to chat"). The broad, trapezoidal seat accommodated wide dresses worn by ladies of the 16th century who otherwise had been relegated to stools or window seats (except in the case of aristocracy and royalty) while their male counterparts sat on chairs. Other features of the armchairs harking back to the haute époque caquetoire include the narrow back out of which curving arms attach to posts in the shape of columns extending vertically from the seat. Characteristic Renaissance flavor is found in the hand-carved ornament on the backrest and bordering the lower front part of the seat. Although the chairs look like walnut, they are made of beech in accordance with the custom in the late 19th Century neo-Renaissance style and are quite sturdy. Boccador, Jacqueline, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988); Boussel, Patrice, Les Styles du Moyen Age à Louis XIV (Baschet et Cie, Paris, 1979);Rousseau, Francis, Le Grand Livre des Meubles (Copyright Studio, Paris, 1999); Rijksmuseum Masterpieces (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/BK-NM-1009?lang=en) These chairs are ideal for a dining area around a small table or as occasional chairs in any room. For more information, visit M. Markley Antiques on the Web -- the premier resource in the U.S. for French Gothic Revival and Renaissance Revival furniture, including Henri II and Louis XIII styles.

Status: No Longer Available	Reference#: 03314
Condition: Excellent	Year: Circa 1890
Country: France
Height: 45 in. (114.30 cm)	Depth: 16 in. (40.64 cm)
Width: 23 in. (58.42 cm)
Style: Renaissance
Materials: Beech

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