Chair of Renyseneb

From The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, 1983 page 147.

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28 Chair of Renyseneb
Middle Dynasty 18, ca. 1450 B.C.
Ebony with ivory; h. 35 in. (86.2 cm)

The back of this wooden chair, belonging to the scribe Renyseneb, is handsomely veneered with ivory and further embellished by incised decoration showing the owner seated on a chair of identical form. This is the earliest surviving chair with such a representation, and it is the only nonroyal example known of any date. The scene and accompanying text have funerary import and may have been added following Renyseneb's death to make the chair a more suitable funerary object. The high quality of its joinery and the harmony of its proportions testify to the skill of ancient Egyptian carpenters. The mesh seat has been restored according to ancient models. Purchase, Patricia R. Lassalle Gift, 1968, 68.58