Upholstery panels for an armchair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These upholstery panels were made for a chair that was part of a set (see 1974.356.114–.121) made for the Franckenstein Pavilion in the gardens of Seehof Castle near Bamberg, one of the three summer residences in Southern Germany used by Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, prince bishop of Würzberg and Bamberg. A true garden enthusiast, it was under von Seinsheim that the gardens of Seehof were embellished, which must have resembled the still extant Rococo gardens completed by von Seinsheim at Veitshöchheim. His love for gardens and garden imagery also carried over into the interior decoration and furnishings of his castles, as the Seehof furniture demonstrates. A unique example of German Rococo furniture executed in a more flamboyant style than its French prototypes, the ensemble was designed specifically for the Garden Room in the Franckenstein Pavilion. Used as an audience room, it was referred to as the "Green Trellis Chamber" in the 1774 Seehof inventory and painted entirely with trompe l'oeil trellis and foliage. The garden room's furniture was made to match: the backs of the chairs and settees are richly carved in the form of garden trellis-work with colored flowers and foliage.

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