Portrait Chair

Mahogany, Ash, Ebony, Holly, Silk and horse hair upholstery

This side chair was designed in the popular Thomas Sheraton style, blending use of classical and contemporary marquetry with traditional carvings & inlay. The veneer inlay is in the form of a face, created with the same materials and techniques as the traditional fan marquetry that flanks it. The location of the inlay, typical of the era, conflates the traditional terminology of a chair “back” with a human back and by doing so recontextualizes other components such as the legs and seat with a human physicality, further blurring the line between figure sculpture and functional form.

Images cont. below