Soft carved side chair presented in the museum’s collection is made of oak. The seat and back are upholstered with imitation leather in black. The chair was created under the influence of strict and geometric empire architecture. The back is high, like a throne, and the side abutments of the back are completed with symmetrically arranged stylized figures of lions. The legs are designed in the form of animal paws.

Once this chair decorated a luxurious interior in one of the residences of high-ranking persons. In some memoirs and documents, there was information that this chair, along with other pieces of furniture, was taken out of Leningrad to decorate the Palace of Labor in the village of Kopi. The Palace of Labor for local miners was built with the assistance of Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee and First Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Kalinin has been to these parts of the world more than once. In November 1920, with the propaganda train “October Revolution”, he visited the Chelyabinsk Coal Mines, thus speaking to the workers of the Sergo-Ufaley, Tugaykul, and Kyshtym Mines. Kalinin presented valuable gifts to the most distinguished miners. He visited the Mines for the second time in 1929. That year, the People’s House was the only club that burned down in the Chelyabinsk Mines. The miners turned to Kalinin out of old memory and told him about their misfortune. The all-union headman was attentive to the request of the miners and helped build a new building that was not just a club, but the Palace of Culture. On his personal instructions, this Palace was furnished with furniture from the former royal mansions and noble estates of Leningrad. Furniture has long served as a decoration of the Palace of Culture. Some old items, including this chair, became museum’s exhibits in 1979. They still have the metal tags of the Palace of Culture on them.

The presented chair, together with other pieces of furniture transferred by the Palace of Culture, is one suite. The suite can be attributed to the period of historical retrospectivism and dated to the second half of the 19th century. The furniture forms are quite massive. Armchairs and chairs are made in the form of a throne and decorated with animalistic motifs. The front legs are curved in the shape of animal paws, and the backs are crowned with a pair of lion heads. This motif is characteristic of the Baroque furniture of Andre-Charles Boule, the court master of Louis XIV. The lion has long symbolized royal power. In the 19th century, the lion was the main symbol of the power of the British Empire. In state coats of arms, the crowned lion represents power over subjects. The image of lions’ heads can be found on the coat of arms of the House of Romanov.