An Italian carved walnut armchair, Parma, late 18th century, in the manner of Ignazio Marchetti

The distinctive design for this armchair echoes the so-called “goût grec”, a fascinating moment in Decorative Arts when ancient historic forms emulating Antiquity became the latest fashion. The "goût grec" was an avant-garde and short-lived movement in the beginnings of the Neoclassical period, spearheaded by sophisticated Parisian tastemakers such as Ange-Laurent de La Live de Jully and the Comte de Caylus. The bold designs of the celebrated French architect Ennemond-Alexandre Petitot (1727-1801), in many ways parodying the goût grec, had a great influence on Parmese furniture.

Petitot was trained in Lyon, Paris and Rome, and became Court Architect in Parma in 1753 through the intermediary of the celebrated amateur and author the comte de Caylus. Cultural exchange between Paris and Parma was on a grand and ambitious scale and numerous important purchases of furniture and bronzes d'ameublement were made for the court at Parma, largely through their agents in Paris. Parallel to the Court furniture, a number of Italian furniture makers and skilled carvers such as Odoardo Panini and Ignazio Marchetti working in Petitot's entourage in Parma were producing neoclassical style furniture, such as the armchair here offered.

Several elements such as the ram’s heads, paterae, the foliate frieze, the square-shaped and spiralling supports can be identified in works by or attributed to Ignazio Marchetti, see a console table in the Palazzo Ducale of Colorno, a console table in chiesa di San Liborio and a console table in Palazzo Pitti ( (ill. E. Colle, Il Mobile neoclassico, 2005, pp.246, 248-249, 254-255). Feet ending with spiralling fluting is recorded on other Parmigiani furniture, see a console table, a sideboard and a secretaire cabinet (ill. G.Cirillo, Il Mobile a Parma fra Barocco e Romanticismo 1600-1860, 1983, pp.192-193, respectively fig. 518, 523 and 524).