Carved Roman Chairs


Ancient Rome with Anthony & Cleopatra. Ornate thrones for a Roman feast. Saddle seats in decadent imperial purple velvet with gold trimmings.

Availability: 1 in stock

This pair of Carved Roman Chairs were acquired from a family 30 miles down the coast, who were emigrating to Australia.  Ali beat 60 other potential customers to the post for this stunning pair of Carved Roman Chairs.  Needless to say, Ali was delighted!


This style of chair is one of the most ancient forms of furniture; also known as ‘Curule Chairs’, and are made with or without arms. In ancient Rome, these chairs  were used by the highest government dignitaries, senior magistrates, officials and emperors and served as a place of judgement.  

Tender, Loving Care

Reproduction chairs made from oak; with several layers of varnish over the years.  This old varnish was cracked and chipped; in some areas it was peeling off.  The restoration process took ages!  Getting into all the nooks and crannies of the intricate carving details required skill and much patience.  Now fully restored, not only do they look amazing, the feel amazing too!  The wood is so smooth it feels like glass!

Design Brief

Initially the chairs had flat seats; so new seats were made.  When placed onto the curved framework of the chair, the fantastic curvature of the chairs was lost.  Online investigations found this style of Carved Roman Chairs originally had ‘saddle seats’, often made from leather.

Attaching a leather ‘saddle seat’ from leather would have significantly reduced the dramatic impact of these Carved Roman Chairs. Instead, a striking Imperial purple velvet from the Designers Guild Collection  has been used; and trimmed with a vanilla-coloured fringe. 

Now, these chairs are fit for royalty!  Not only do they look great, they are functional art too.  A cat lover friend of mine also suggested they’d be great as ‘cat hammocks’.  As we love cats too, we have no problem with this!!   Here puss puss… come and have some fuss…   

Height = 77 cm, Depth = 54 cm, Width = 55 cm, Seat height = 48cm.

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