Indian Armchair with Jali or Pierced-work Screen Elements

Carved fretwork crowns this seat, which looks far more delicate than it sits

This armchair with jali or pierced-work screen elements is from Rajasthan, India, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is makrana marble. Jaipur is described as the center of marble carving in Rajasthan, dating to around 250 years ago when the ruler Sawai Jai Singh II moved his capital there and summoned skilled sculptors. A seat with a scalloped, pierced arch back, a diamond-patterned lattice panel and scrolled armrests. Four stout legs with ribbed bulbs support a thick flat seat slab. The surface is pale, smooth and lightly veined. It is 28 inches long, 24 deep and 43 high.

A chair that insists on good posture from everyone nearby.