This is an important pair of Antique Swedish Jugendstil Art Nouveau armchairs with the most amazing figural inlays of Mother of Pearl and exotic woods. The inlays are in the form of birds, spiders, grasshoppers, and cherries. The arm of each chair swirls down to terminate into a large roundel. The outer face of each roundel is inlaid with shell and exotic woods in the form of a black bird- possibly a raven or a swallow. The top rail of each chair back is inlaid in the form of a spider, flanked by inlays of flowers. The facing edge of each seat rail is also inlaid, however, here is where each chair is individualized: The seat rail of one chair has inlays in the form of grasshoppers, the other in the form of cherries. All of the inlays incorporate exotic woods and shell. The camera does not do justice to the beauty of these inlays. It is difficult to capture the prisms of color that the shell produces, which are ever-changing depending on the perspective of the viewer.
Extensive research has afforded no luck in attaching a name to these remarkable chairs, but there is no doubt that they were done by a significant and most talented designer of the day. Neither has research provided a clue as to the significance of the motifs of the inlays. One good guess is that the spider and bird were symbols associated with a particular family, and these were made for a husband and wife- one being represented by the grasshopper and the other by cherries.
These chairs are structurally sound and tight. They have been restrung and are very comfortable. They have just newly been reupholstered in an elegant tone-on-tone burgundy fabric with diamond crosshatch design and gold accents and gold gimp. There are minor bumps and rubs here and there in the wood as would be expected on pieces of this age, and there is a natural knot in the wood on one of the top rails, but these chairs are about as perfect as you could hope to find. The chairs are about 21 1/2" wide at the widest (Top of the back), 26 1/2" deep, and the seat backs are about 35 1/2" high, 

We will deliver these amazing chairs to your door anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States for $350.00 .  Of course, local pick up is always free at The Lazy Dog Antique Store, 1903 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago, Il. 60657. Actually, we encourage local pick up so we can personally meet our customers and show off all the great stuff we have for sale in our store.
Thanks for looking and good luck. We have lots of other interesting antiques and collectibles, so please check out our other listings.

Please note that when items are shipped via freight carrier, delivery times can vary from approximately 4-6 weeks.