Description
This George II Chippendale-style wing armchair is an example of bench-made craftsmanship from the renowned Chicago design house of Mike Bell. Created during the height of the late-20th-century traditional revival, this piece beautifully bridges classic English country house architecture with exotic colonial fantasy, making it a commanding statement piece for any sophisticated interior. The chair boasts a stately, tall-backed wing silhouette, traditionally upholstered in its original premium, heavy silk damask in a sophisticated tone-on-tone botanical palette. The triumph of the piece lies in its exceptional, fluid woodcarvings executed in solid walnut.
While the overall form relies on traditional British Chippendale lines—featuring dramatic cabriole front legs terminating in robust ball-and-claw feet—the ornamentation introduces captivating Anglo-Indian motifs. The upper knees of the legs are carved with high-relief cartouches and stylized shell crests, while the inner leg brackets reveal heavily stylized, fierce bird-head terminals. The out-swept arms terminate in meticulously sculpted beast heads with fine scales running down the supports, showcasing a spectacular level of bench-made joinery and detail. The walnut frame displays a beautifully mellowed, warm tawny-amber tone, accented by subtle workshop-applied antiquing glazes that rest in the crevices of the carvings to simulate centuries of natural age and layered patina. Mike Bell, Inc. was an elite, trade-only American design firm headquartered at the prestigious Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Highly sought after by top-tier interior decorators throughout the late twentieth century, the Mike Bell workshop was celebrated for its uncompromising dedication to historical scale, bench-made integrity, and museum-grade furniture reproductions.
Overall: H=42 in. W=33 in. D=33 in. 70 lbs.
Seat: H=19 in. W=19 in. D=21.5 in.
Armrest: H=28 in.
