île d'Orléans armchair
Report a Mistake- Date Made 1725-1850
- Event --
- Affiliation French Canadian
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer --
- Object Number A-1562
- Place of Origin --
- Place of Use Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Quebec
- Category Furnishings
- Sub-category Furniture
- Department History
- Museum CMH
- Earliest 1725/01/01
- Latest 1850/12/31
- Materials Birch, Butternut, Metal
- Measurements Height 97.7 cm, Width 64.3 cm
- Caption Armchair
- Additional Information This armchair is an exceptional and perhaps unique example of the Régence style in French Canada. The imposing proportions, the thickness of the structural members, the curves of short radius, the back to back "C"s of the crest rail and the overall symmetry of the curves come from the Louis XIV style, while the pieds galbés, the somewhat longer (although still stiff) curve of the legs, and the multiplication of the curved line (legs, skirt, arms, supports, crest rail), anticipate the curvilinear dominants and the less formal, more human characteristics of the Louis XV style. Wood identification by micro-analysis (birch, butternut) makes clear the Canadian origins of the chair. The blue green paint was found to contain Prussian blue, white lead and calcium carbonate (chalk) in a drying oil medium. This simple combination of pigment, dryer and vehicle was common practice in the 18th century. Analysis by the Canadian Conservation Institute.