Benvo Cane Medallion Chair

Benvo's back is a closed oval medallion, with cane stretched into the stepped rebate that runs around its inner edge. A slim bead travels around the outside of the oval, and there is no carved crest at the top. Where the ornament has been taken away the geometry of the oval itself comes forward: the medallion is a true egg shape and its section stays the same thickness all the way round.

The medallion does not sit on the seat but stands on two uprights rising from the back, and the gap between them lightens the chair when it is seen from behind. The front edge of the seat rail is not straight: it is shaped with a soft curve that pushes forward at the centre, and the same beading continues across the rail face.

The front legs are curved in the Louis idiom; they push out at the knee, turn back in towards the ankle and finish on a small pad foot. The rear legs do not repeat that curve: they are straight, tapering and raked back, each continuous with the upright that carries the back. The deliberate mismatch between front and rear pair sets the chair's profile. There are no stretchers between the legs, the rigidity coming from the seat rails instead, and the eye passes between all four legs right down to the floor. In the bare frame photograph you can see the webbing slots on the inner face of the rail. The photographs show the bare, unfinished and unupholstered frame alongside the walnut stained version with a cream fabric upholstered seat.