High-back chair (pair with 1975.1.1998)

Art Historical Context

This elegant high-back chair, part of a rare pair from the Robert Lehman Collection at Metropolitan Museum of Art, to the late 19th or early 20th century. Standing an impressive 124.8 cm tall, with a width of 63.6 cm and depth of 65, it exemplifies fine woodwork-furniture possibly originating from Northern Africa—perhaps Morocco—or Syria. Its uncertain cultural attribution highlights the rich trade networks that blended influences across the Islamic world during this period. Crafted from various hardwoods adorned with bone and ivory in, the chair showcases masterful marquetry techniques typical of luxury furniture in these regions. Ivory and bone, prized for their luminous quality and durability, were often used to create intricate geometric or floral patterns, symbolizing wealth and craftsmanship. Such materials elevated everyday objects into status symbols for elite households. As a piece in the distinguished Robert Lehman Collection (acquired in 1975), this chair offers a glimpse into domestic life and artistic traditions of the late Ottoman era or colonial North Africa and the Levant. Its high back suggests it was designed for formal seating, perhaps in reception rooms where hospitality played a central role in social customs. Visitors are invited to appreciate its tactile beauty and the anonymous artisan's skill in blending form, function, and opulence.