With its sober lines and elegant silhouette, this armchair was once in Queen Marie Antoinette’s private quarters at the Palace of Fontainebleau.

Originally, the chair was gold with some silver elements. The most interesting decorative features are on the arms – dolphins, from which emerge the twisted columns and their sphinx-shaped finials. This chair exemplifies Marie Antoinette’s refined spirit; a certain fascination with Antiquity and a feminine lightness and harmony are evident in the decorative grammar, characteristic of the queen’s taste.

Georges Jacob was one of her favourite cabinetmakers. His great artistic sensibility, alert to evolving tastes, allied to his impeccable technique, made him one of the most prestigious in his field at that time. Although this piece is not stamped, it has been attributed to him through documents found in the Royal Archives. Other chairs are mentioned in those documents but only the one now belonging to the Gulbenkian Museum has been identified to date.