Vaux Oval-Back Dining Chair

The oval-backed side chair, its back framed like a portrait medallion, was a hallmark of French furniture in the reign of Louis XVI, in the 1770s and 1780s. Carved and painted, set on straight, fluted legs, it was the elegant everyday chair of the period, and it has been copied lovingly ever since, not least in the great houses around Paris, such as the château of Vaux-le-Vicomte.

This chair has that oval back, button-tufted in a diamond pattern and padded with dense foam, over a well-cushioned seat in the same deep pewter fabric. The frame is wood in a soft, grey-washed finish, fluted with fine parallel grooves, and a slim welt, a corded seam, neatens every upholstered edge. Pads on the feet protect the floor, it is rated to hold 331 lbs, and it arrives fully assembled, ready to use the day it comes.

Gather a set round a farmhouse table under a simple chandelier, or place one at the head of a dining table as a host's chair. As an accent chair it sits well at a dressing table in a bedroom with an old mirror above, or beside a writing desk. The grey frame and dark seat suit a French country house of pale walls, linen, old silver and a bowl of white peonies. This listing is for one chair.