Princess Satamune's Throne replica ca. 1905/10 by Giuseppe Parvis (1831-1909)

The throne of Princess SATAMUNE was discovered in the tomb of Juja and Tuja (KV47) in 1905. The replica here was probably made by Giuseppe Parvis in Cairo, right after the discovery of the original.
He specialised in the production of Arab-influenced furniture and, thanks to the opening of his shop in Cairo in 1859, he was also at the heart of the archaeological discoveries made during the excavations carried out since the 19th century. The throne chair shown here is from a period photograph showing the showroom of his shop. The photo was taken between 1905 and 1910.

Giuseppe Parvis' company played an important role in the production of interior furniture. Parvis, born in Bremen in the province of Pavia in 1831, studied and apprenticed in Turin. He then went to Paris, where he worked as a sculptor and carver, and in 1859 to Cairo, where he opened a cabinetmaking workshop. It is likely that he was persuaded to stay in the Egyptian capital by the Italian consul Giuseppe De Martino, 'who wanted to keep him [in Egypt], convinced that the workshop he would set up there would be an honour for Italy'. His furniture found favour with Ismail Pasha "who helped him in his research into Arab artistic furniture. "The Khedive gave him access to monuments and places that were not open to the public, and Parvis had the opportunity to examine and reproduce the most characteristic and significant decorations of Arab art, which he reinterpreted with inspiration and creativity in his own furniture designs. After an initial interest in Arabic ornamentation, Parvis began to study the ornamental motifs of ancient Egypt and Roman Greece, transposing the eclectic approach that has guided contemporary architectural choices into his furniture design.