Pair of Italian Renaissance Walnut Savonarola Chairs

A superb and exceptionally well-preserved pair of 16th-century Italian walnut folding armchairs, of the Savonarola or curule type, with elegantly interlaced staves and fine original surface patination. Each chair is formed of eight shaped and hinged members pivoting on an iron pin, the arms terminating in classical rosettes and joined by a circular boss at the intersection of the frame. The seats and backs retain early crimson velvet upholstery, likely 17th–18th century, with removable cushions preserving the fragile original textile beneath.
The curving silhouette, restrained ornamentation, and crisp articulation of form identify these as products of the Florentine or Emilian workshops active between 1540 and 1570, when the revival of antique models reached its purest expression in furniture design. The type directly derives from the ancient sella curulis, the folding magistrate’s seat symbolising civic and courtly authority, consciously reinterpreted during the High Renaissance as a sign of humanist culture and princely dignity.
The rosette-carved terminals, paw feet, and sweeping arms exemplify the refined linear vocabulary of mid-16th-century Florentine design, contemporary with the Medici court under Cosimo I and the architectural idiom of Vasari. Comparable examples — of nearly identical construction — are preserved in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, and in the Palazzo Davanzati, as well as in major English collections formed during the late 19th century by connoisseurs of early Italian furniture.
Condition: Excellent, with a fine original patina; minor restorations consistent with age. The velvet seat and back coverings are early, showing appropriate wear, with removable cushions added for preservation.

Provenance: Barling of Mount Street Ltd, London, illustrated in their catalogue, last image shown here.