Settee

before 1717
Overall: 120 x 201.3 x 55.9 cm (47 1/4 x 79 1/4 x 22 in.)
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location: not on view

Download, Print and Share

Description

These chairs belong to a suite that includes a settee (also in the CMA’s collection) and a tapestry made for a count and countess to mark their wedding in 1717. Furniture of this scale was usually placed against the wall in grand reception halls, more as a display of wealth than for use. Upholstered in Savonnerie tapestries, this suite was among the most treasured and expensive example anyone could own and typically reserved for royalty.

To add decorative and intellectual interest to the textiles, weavers incorporated symbols depicting various stories from the Fables of Jean de La Fontaine, published from 1668 to 1694 and largely adapted from Aesop and other early storytellers.
Settee

Settee

before 1717

Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops

(French, est. 1627)
France, 18th century

Visually Similar Artworks

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.