“Vescovina” Chair by Lanfranco Benvenuti for Meccani, 1985 — green example

Italy, 1985

H 111 x W 53 x D 53 cm

Stained ash

Good condition

€2,900

Ash panels assembled flat, a high gabled back pierced with a round eye, two solid sides that serve as armrests. The silhouette quotes the bishop’s throne — vescovo in Italian — hence the name.

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

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