Miniature 18th Century Pergolesi Chair via Smithsonian

I love love LOVE the way this chair prints at a miniature scale. I’m no expert (nor an amateur) when it comes to furniture design, but what I particularly appreciate is the level of detail. All credit goes to the Smithsonian’s fabulous digital team for creating these scans. They must have some incredibly high power scanners to capture the detail in the artifact. In my print, I can see finely carved features, and even the rope that binds the edges of the upholstery.

I was very careful about the orientation, to keep the supports on the back of the chair and properly build each of the tiny features. I also did some manual editing to make sure the supports were in places that could be easily removed. This was printed in black, at a 50 micron layer height. I’ve had the file for a few months. If I recall correctly, I downloaded the smallest of the Smithsonian’s options, then scaled down to 80%. The final print is 3 inches (just below 8 cm) at it’s tallest point. Here are a few quick process photos, before and after removing the supports:

Explore or download the digital model directly from the Smithsonian X 3D site: 3d Model | 3D Digitization

“… this chair, with its delicate, thin, seemingly animate legs and elaborate carving and coloring, is more in the style of northern Italy where Pergolesi began his career and where his designs must have circulated as well. The chair is an example of a very carefully crafted object utilizing classical ornamentation combined with fanciful motifs, a style popular in the late eighteenth century in much of Europe.”

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