Scissors chair (Savonarola chair)
A scissors chair has a frame crossing in an X shape, often with curved members and a central joint. The Savonarola chair is a familiar type within this family of forms. Folding examples could be moved and stored compactly, but an X-shaped support alone does not mean a chair folds.
Form does not establish age
The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds an Italian walnut Savonarola chair dated to the fifteenth or sixteenth century. It also holds a nineteenth-century chair incorporating earlier parts and a fifteenth-century textile. Frame, upholstery and later alterations therefore require separate dating. Renaissance styling does not automatically make a chair a Renaissance-period object.
Examine the construction
Check how the crossing members, arms and seat connect. Cranbrook notes that the related Dante chair is a heavier, non-folding form. Inspect the construction before assigning a name or function. Photograph joints, connections, reverse and underside, recording replacement screws, cracks and repairs. Do not force a rigid chair to fold. Documentary provenance and examination of materials matter more to dating than the style name itself.
