Antique Portuguese Baroque Zebra Fabric Dining Chair, 1890s

Details

Description

A chair with a past, redesigned for a new interior. Not perfect. But with a lot of history.

Believed to … Read more A chair with a past, redesigned for a new interior. Not perfect. But with a lot of history.

Believed to date from the early 20th century, this solid wood chair has already lived a long life. Its carved frame, cabriole-style legs and decorative back speak to a very different period of furniture making, when even an everyday chair was given ornamental details.

Originally finished in dark wood with a red leather seat stuffed with horse hair, the chair has been restored and deliberately reimagined rather than returned to its original appearance. The carved wooden frame has been painted in glossy white, while the seat has been newly upholstered in a bold black-and-white zebra textile. The choice of pattern was inspired by the iconic zebra fabric designed by Alvar Aalto and manufatured to this day by Artek, bringing a distinctly modernist reference to a much older piece.

An old chair that has served previous generations, but does not need to remain visually trapped in its original period. The result combines an antique silhouette with a graphic contemporary character, making it particularly suited to an eclectic, maximalist or design-led interior.

This is not a newly manufactured or perfectly uniform piece of furniture. The frame carries traces of its long history beneath its new finish: small irregularities, signs of age and evidence of previous use are part of the chair's character. Rather than disguising its past completely, the restoration gives it another chapter.

One antique chair. One hundred years or so of history. Reworked for a new generation.

Measurements:

Total height 95cm
Seat height 45-50cm
Width (at the widest point on the seat)  45cm
Seat depth 40cm See less