"Bishop's chair", ca. 1840
MediumWalnut, bone inlays, lady's glass, wickerwork
(H x W x D)127 × 84,5 × 74 cm
About the workThis imposing chair with armrests and a high back originally formed part of the furnishings of a church. Free-standing, box-shaped furniture such as this had been common in Europe since the Middle Ages, and in the eleventh century it also reached the Middle East with the beginning of the Crusades. The ornamental mother-of-pearl and ivory inlays as well as the decorative wickerwork of the seat and backrest suggest that this chair belonged to a dignitary from the Coptic Church in Egypt – a Christian denomination that was established in Alexandria in the first century AD and spread outwards from there.
AccessionAcquisition 1887
Provenance[...]; bis 2.2.1887 Dr. Franz Johann Joseph Bock, Kanonikus, Geistlicher und Kunsthistoriker (Aachen-Burtscheid 1823-1899 Aachen); 2.2.1887 - 1927 ehem. Kunstgewerbemuseum Düsseldorf (1883-1927) angekauft von Bock; 1927 übernommen aus dem Kunstgewerbemuseum
Inventory numberP 11456
