From the Hardwick Hall guidebook:

The canopy halfway along the Gallery is one of the most magnificent examples of late 17th-century upholstery surviving in England. It had originally formed the tester and head of the bed in the state bedroom at Chatsworth supplied by Francis Lapierre in 1697. The 6th Duke installed it at Hardwick in the early 19th century as piece of romantic stage scenery, for by his time canopies had no functional purpose in a private house.

Under the canopy now are two high-backed chairs of carved walnut with original red velvet upholstery appliqued with silver thread, part of a set made about 1700 for the Queen of Scots’ apartment at Chatsworth; five stools from the same suite are also in the Gallery.