A SET OF SIX NORTH ITALIAN POLYCHROME PAINTED DINING CHAIRSPOSSIBLY GENOA, MID-18TH CENTURYIncluding four armchairs, the splats painted with the coronet of an Italian marquess and an armorial blazon of gules, on a saltire argent a crescent azure, in a cartoucheThe armchairs 103cm high, 67cm wide, 55cm deepThe armorial is that of the BERNARDINI di Lucca family of the Central Northern Italian province of Lucca. They are an ancient family of that area who have ancestral links there for at least one thousand years. They were merchants and involved in the aristocratic government of the province. They are reputed to have taken part in the first crusade and the augmentation (a blue crescent) was added to their arms. Notably from at least the 17th century they resided at the Palazzo Bernardini, S. Maria in Via and later the Villa Bernardini in Massa Pisana. From the end of the 18th century the family divided in to three distinct branches that are differentiated by their principalities: First - of S. Giorio, the palace Boccella. Second - of S. Giusto, the palace of Gigli and later Cassa di Risparnio. Third - of the Palazza Bernardini.