ART BYZANTIN, fin du Ve siècle Lot n° 2

FOLDING TABOURET OF CAMP Wrought iron, gold and silver inlays, leather H. 48 cm, W. 52 cm, D. 42 cm Attached leather straps This exceptional folding stool consists of two rectangular iron frames joined by a central clip forming the X-shaped structure. This fixing is cleverly hidden and invisible from the outside. An iron rod, fixed by five rivets to the top of each frame, holds six leather strips forming the seat. The base has a tubular shape with an octagonal section finished at its ends by a large square section flattened at the lower part and offers a rich decoration inlaid with gold and silver composed of chevrons and friezes of Greek alternating in the central part, stylised clovers and volutes in the upper part and refined diamonds in the lower part. Ironwork dates back more than 3000 years before Christ. Originally, in furniture, it has an essentially technical use of bonding parts. It is in Egypt that we find the oldest metallic structures; the ancient Greek residence was furnished with beds and seats with bronze legs. The ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum have provided us with seats, tripod pedestal tables, folding tables, cupboards and chests, made or decorated with bronzes. Dignitaries and nobles had the privilege of a folding seat called sella used for ceremonies. The Louvre Museum has a silver example of it decorated with ram heads and hooves from the ancient Roman period (fig. 1). Camp stools, for military use, used by the Emperor and his high dignitaries during campaigns against the barbarian peoples were then considered as usual objects of great convenience but also objects of political propaganda affirming the superiority of the Roman civilization. The ornamentation on the base repeats the Byzantine motifs of the early Christian period, when chevrons, fleurons, zigzags, secant circles intertwine and unfold in rehearsal; a repertoire that can be found on the floors of churches in particular. Designed to highlight the subje