Pair of French Renaissance Walnut Chairs

This rare pair of French Renaissance walnut side chairs epitomises the sculptural boldness and humanist spirit of late 16th-century France. The high-relief backs are carved with the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders (Book of Daniel, Old Testament Apocrypha), a moralising theme that symbolised chastity, justice, and divine truth — virtues much prized in the intellectual courts of the French Renaissance.
The side supports take the form of full-length satyrs, a distinctly Renaissance device, embodying lust and temptation in deliberate contrast to Susanna’s virtue. This interplay of sacred and profane was a hallmark of Mannerist design, offering layers of allegorical meaning to a learned audience. The friezes are enriched with fruitwood inlays, while the seats retain later upholstery worked over period tapestry panels — one showing figures bearing a chest, the other with stylised animals within a verdant ground.
Their intimate scale suggests they were conceived for a private cabinet or chamber of state (chambre de parade), intended as much for intellectual and moral conversation as for functional seating. The combination of sculptural narrative carving and rich textile covering elevates them to the status of statement pieces, blurring the line between furniture and moralising art.
Provenance: Mallet, Bond Street, sold in 1925 to Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, Bussock Wood, Newbury.