Chair panel 1700 - 1715

Daniel Marot the Elder created this chair panel sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century. Marot, a Huguenot who fled France for the Netherlands and later worked in England, brought a distinctive Franco-Dutch style to decorative arts. This panel reflects the luxurious tastes of the aristocracy, but it also speaks to broader cultural exchanges and power dynamics. The central image depicts a woman surrounded by peacocks, symbolizing beauty and wealth, yet she is also confined within an elaborate frame. Notice how the exotic birds and lush floral arrangements create a scene of opulence, but also hint at the global trade and colonial exploitation that fueled such displays of wealth. These panels offered alternative narratives through the careful arrangement of images and symbols. Consider how the imagery in the chair panel balances themes of beauty and constraint, luxury, and the complex socio-political realities of the time.