Luigi Frullini Four Side Chairs
Luigi Frullini, Florence, Italy, circa 1870s-1880s
Each of these four side chairs is unique, with no two having the same carving. With tall, tapering backs and constructed of dark walnut, their frames are carved with scrolling foliage on a stippled ground and set with grotesque mask medallions at the corners. Carvings of fantastical creatures, insects, lizards, and winged fantasies adorn the skirt and risers. The upholstery is embossed gilded leather worked in dense arabesques. The seats sit on carved supports that end in lion’s paw feet.
Luigi Frullini, Florence (1839-1897)
Florentine master carver Luigi Frullini was one of the leading figures of the late-19th-century Italian Renaissance Revival, and a contemporary critic called him the “Donatello of Woodcarvers.” He built an international reputation by exhibiting at world’s fairs, including London (1862), Venice (1873), and Paris (1867 and 1878). Several prominent American clients bought his work, and in 1876 he worked at Chateau-sur-Mer in Newport, Rhode Island for the prominent Wetmore family.
Original 19th-century photograph of furniture from Luigi Frullini’s workshop. The side chair at right and the footstool at left are the very pieces now in this house. The pedestal in the center is known to exist, but has suffered heavy damage, and its owner has preserved the remaining pieces.
