Almost Pair Of Italian Neoclassic Arm Chairs, Early 19th Century

In the 18th Century and early 19th Century, Chairs in continental Europewere constructed of beechwood, on account of it's lightness and acceptance of stain and finishes.The chairs were constructed in separate parts- legs, arms, side and toprails of the back etc. which were assembled by mortise and tenon jointsand strengthened by wooden plugs, usually inserted without glue.Chair- makers in Italy genrally shaped and jointed their chair framesthemselves, but sometimes a Journeyman shaped some of the chairs if they had a larger order. This accounts for slight variations in Chairsproduced by the same Chair-maker shop.One finds on rare occasions pieces fabricated in Italy that follow thefamous designs of the English designers. In this case these chairshint to the designs of Hepplewhite. In Italy it was comon to take thestyle of french or english designs and modify them "the Italian way"Italian craftsmen took out some of the rigid forms of the originaldesigns and interpreted them with a sense of humor and softness.So you see the urn shape in the backsplat of these chairs, is somewhatloose and less formal than the english cousin.