Set of four armchairs (fauteuils en cabriolet)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The flowing curvilinear silhouette of this armchair, one of a set of four, places it firmly in the middle of the eighteenth century. The continuous curve of the back extends into the legs, rails, and arms with a grace epitomizing the Rococo style. Possibly part of a larger set, the chairs are unstamped and the maker remains unknown. The chairs are not identical but display small differences in their carved decoration: the sprays of flowers at the top of the back and at the center of the front seat rail vary from one to another. The carved flowers, leaves, and scrolls on the outer back indicates that these chairs are sièges courants, which could be moved about and placed informally in the center of the room as opposed to sièges meublants, which remained formally arranged against the walls.

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