“Vescovina” chair by Lanfranco Benvenuti for Meccani, 1985

Italian work, 1985

H 111 x W 53 x D 53 cm

Stained ash

Good condition

Flat-assembled ash panels, a high back mounted at the gable end and pierced with a round eye, two solid sides that serve as armrests. The silhouette evokes a bishop's cathedra — vescovo in Italian — hence the name.

Lanfranco Benvenuti (1937-1989) designed it for Meccani Arredamenti, near Pisa, for the Toys Furniture collection. A church seat brought back into the realm of domestic furniture: the essence of Italian postmodernism lies in this shift.

Produced in short series, a handful of copies per finish. This one is in green-stained ash, in good condition; two other finishes, gold and silver, are in the gallery.