French Ladderback Chair, Painted Beige, 1980s, Rush Seat

A superb ladderback chair from the dining room at Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter Wells's farmhouse near Vaison-la-Romaine, where it has been a familiar presence around the table for decades. Made in the 1980s by a local ebonist, it is exactly the kind of skilled regional craftsmanship that Patricia has always sought out. The frame is painted in a warm two-tone beige, gently worn from years of daily use. Three scalloped ladder rails rise to a shaped crest rail, and the front apron is carved with a pretty floral motif — a small, considered flourish that lifts the piece above the purely functional. The seat is tightly woven rush, honey-coloured and firm, set on elegantly curved cabriole legs connected by turned stretchers. The overall effect is distinctly French country: refined without being fussy. This chair would sit beautifully at a writing desk, in a bedroom corner or tucked into a kitchen, bringing with it a genuine piece of that farmhouse table — and all the good meals and good company that went with it.