Lounging Like Royalty

We're Bond & Bowery, a website with the most diverse selection of antiques, design, and fine art in cyberspace. We highlight quality pieces without the clutter of competing ads and excessive editorial content. B & B understands the importance of a valuable acquisition and its contribution to home decoration.

Your B & B Host: I'm George Evans, and I've spent the last 20 years importing and exporting antiques and fine design pieces from Europe. I'm a New York City dealer and I have two showrooms in Lambertville, New Jersey.

 

This month we're highlighting a 19th Century Italian Handcarved Walnut Chaise Lounge. This piece of furniture is in the transitional Baroque style. It's a beauty, a chaise lounge or daybed made from expertly handcarved walnut. It's quite ornate and elegant at the same time, with a carved and pierced back rest and elongated caned seat on eight baluster legs.

What makes this a collectible item? When one looks for a large piece of furniture to anchor a room's interior design, it’s often hard to find something truly interesting and unique. This chaise lounge has a beautifully carved back rest on the front and back with fish scales, garlands, and urns (to name just a few elements), adding great flourish and interest to the piece in general and to any room it graces.

This piece is of Italian origin, made in the late 19th century and is offered by Bond and Bowery dealer Elephant Walk Antiques of Orlando, FL. The piece has a lovely walnut wood frame, skillfully carved by hand, and the seat's caning is in excellent condition.

This piece will be great for home decorating. First, add a custom cushion to rest on top of the caning, then it would be an inviting seat to put into any room of the house. We've seen a similar piece in a glass conservatory and it was stunning!

Another good decorating spot would be to park the chaise by a long window. A chaise lounge is perfect for a nap in a study or living room, a great place to read in a master bedroom suite, and a unique antique like this will anchor any room successfully.

One can go further and upholster the whole seat and completely cover the caning, making it more of an open sofa or daybed. Extra cushions would add great comfort. This is a beautiful piece to add to any interior or fine furniture collection.

Visit Bond & Bowery for the item detail page on this wonderful chaise.

And for a discussion about some other great pieces, please see my Fine Collectibles interview with Design2Share.