A Rare Pair of Neo-Egyptian Vulture Chairs, Cairo, circa 1880–1885, Giuseppe Parvis (1831–1909)

A rare and highly sculptural pair of neo-Egyptian carved, inlaid and caned chairs, attributed to the celebrated Cairo cabinetmaker Giuseppe Parvis (1831–1909), circa 1880–1885.

Each chair is surmounted by a magnificent vulture with wings fully displayed, the bird forming almost the entirety of the arched back. The heads are powerfully modelled with hooked beaks and curled necks, above deeply carved bodies articulated with overlapping scale-like plumage. The great outstretched wings follow the curve of the back, their individually carved flight feathers extending downwards on either side.

The birds are enriched throughout with contrasting pale inlay: small roundels punctuate the tips of the feathers, while bands of geometric ornament in cream and reddish tones cross the bodies and recur at the lower extremities of the wings.

Each vulture stands upon a horizontal rail above a pierced gallery of stylised Egyptianising balusters, creating an unusually successful transition between the sculptural crest and the seat below.

The square seats retain their woven cane panels and are raised upon elegant tapering legs, the front legs decorated with further geometric inlay and terminating in finely carved animal-paw feet.

The vulture was one of the most potent protective images of ancient Egypt and was particularly associated with Nekhbet, the vulture goddess and tutelary deity of Upper Egypt. Frequently represented with her wings spread protectively, Nekhbet became closely associated with kingship and the protection of the pharaoh. The extraordinary chair backs appear to draw directly upon this ancient Egyptian visual language, transforming the protective outstretched wings of the sacred bird into an architectural and functional element of the furniture itself.

The chairs belong to the distinctive body of Egyptian Revival furniture associated with Giuseppe Parvis, the Italian-born cabinetmaker who established an important workshop in Cairo and became one of the leading designers of Egyptian and Orientalist furniture during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Parvis’s furniture combined European cabinetmaking traditions with Islamic and ancient Egyptian sources, creating pieces specifically suited to the international fascination with Egypt during the period. His work was exhibited internationally and found an enthusiastic clientele amongst European travellers, collectors and patrons.

The attribution and dating are further supported by comparison with Parvis’s documented neo-Egyptian zoomorphic furniture of the 1880s, most notably a remarkable animal-form pouf dated 1884, now preserved in the Museo Stibbert, Florence. Like the present chairs, the Stibbert pouf demonstrates Parvis’s inventive transformation of animal forms into functional furniture and his characteristic combination of carved hardwood with contrasting decorative detail.

The present pair are particularly successful examples of this extraordinary strand of late nineteenth-century Egyptian Revival design, in which archaeological imagery is not merely applied as ornament but determines the entire form of the furniture.

Cairo, circa 1880–1885.

Attributed to Giuseppe Parvis (1831–1909).

Carved hardwood with contrasting inlaid decoration and woven cane seats.

Literature

Manfredi Lapi Gatteschi (ed.), Giuseppe Parvis: Ebanista e designer tra Egitto ed Europa nel secondo Ottocento, including the Giuseppe Parvis neo-Egyptian zoomorphic pouf dated 1884, Tav. 76, Museo Stibbert, Florence.

H 88  x  W 46  x  D 48