CIRCA 1770

This set of elegant armchairs, with their gently curved frames and delicately carved vinery sprays, reflect the transition from the lush naturalism and curved forms of the rococo to the more refined, stylized decoration of the neoclassical era. The chairs were part of a much larger suite of which twelve armchairs and a sofa are currently known. They are thought to have been made for Esprit-Benoit Nicolis, Conte di Robilant e Cereaglio (1724-1801), who was a founding member of the Academy of Sciences in Turin. His descendent, Edmondo Nicolis, Conte di Robilant e Cereaglio (1871-1941), married Contessa Valentina Mocenigo (1878-1950), the last member of one of Venice’s most prominent families. This suite was likely taken to the Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice after their marriage in 1896.

The antiques dealer Julius Loewy purchased the twelve armchairs and a settee from the family during the 1930s and sold it to Walter Rosen for Caramoor, his Italianate country estate in Katonah, Yew York, which eventually became a music and arts foundation. Caramoor deaccessioned six armchairs, including the present set, at Christie's, New York on 22 November 1980, lot 251. All were subsequently with Partridge, London. The remaining pair from this set of six was eventually sold from the estate of Marie H. Ankeny, Minneapolis, Minnesota at Sotheby’s, New York, 29 April 2005, lot 233 ($32,400). The sofa from this set was also on view in Venice in 1932 at the exhibition entitled Il Settecento Italiano.

The remaining settee and six armchairs which Rosen purchased from Loewy are on exhibit at Caramoor and retain their original hand-painted silk upholstery. This has been replaced on the deaccessioned armchairs but their hand-painted silk faille is a reputedly based upon one of Marie Antoinette’s dresses. Karl Lagerfeld used the same pattern in his Monte Carlo residence, Villa la Vigie, which he inhabited from 1986-1997.