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Furnitures

Walnut veneer on pine, with ash, maple and dark-stained walnut inlay, as well as carved embellishments
282 x 593 x 132 cm
Inv. no.: 6980
(Room 10, No. 14)

 

ARMCHAIRS ONCE BELONGING TO PRINCE PÁL ESTERHÁZY, PALATINE OF HUNGARY
Hungary, c. 1690

These armchairs once belonging to Prince Pál Eszterházy are unique relics of furniture art in Hungary that, in all likelihood, were made within the country's borders. Inventories at Fraknó mention the chairs along with a table (currently in a place unknown). The chair - not silver, merely covered with sheeting of silvered brass - may have had a ceremonial function at the court of the palatine (who was the Habsburg monarch's personal representative in Hungary).

On each of the backs, which are of restful, balanced construction and which still preserve evidence of Renaissance traditions, there is, set among large flowers with leaves, a prince's coat of arms. This means that the chairs must have been made after Pál Esterházy was made a prince (1687). But they must also have been made before 1725, since they feature in a Fraknó inventory drawn up in that year. The coverings of the armchairs are fine examples of late 17th-century so-called Hungarian aristocratic embroidery.

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