Desk chair (Fauteuil de bureau)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This type of comfortable chair, known in French as a fauteuil de cabinet or a fauteuil de bureau, was introduced during the eighteenth century specifically for use behind a desk. With its high wrap-around back, the sitter would straddle the front leg with his legs apart. Etienne Meunier (master ca. 1732), is known for the production of such seats. His innovation was to arrange the legs not in the usual square manner but rather in a diamond-shape by placing one leg in front, thereby optimizing the chair’s stability. Displaying beautiful serpentine lines, the frames of Meunier’s desk chairs are often sparingly embellished with carved foliage scrolls and flowers. The two hinged arm pads open up to a small hidden compartment for the storage of personal items. The chair has kept its original leather upholstery.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art