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Lot Essay
The prominent display of pietra dura panels reflects a European aristocratic tradition where precious artifacts - including pietra dura, hardstone, mosaic and scagliola, often acquired on a gentleman's Grand Tour - were incorporated into table tops, cabinets and even wall schemes to proclaim the owner's status and sophistication.
The plaques themselves are Florentine and possibly by Baccio del Bianco (1604-1657), an innovative artisan who produced whimsical scenes for table tops and cabinets at the Medici court of Ferninando II. Three of the plaques - the central bear attacking a lion, the camel and the elk - also feature on a table top at Versailles (see A. Giusti, Pietre Dure and the Art of Florentine Inlay, London, 2006, p. 84, col. pl. 123 and A. Giusti, Pietre Dure: Hardstone in Furniture and Decorations, London, 1992, p. 83, fig. 26). The Versailles plaques likely derive from the same printed source, and the execution and choice of marbles suggest the same workshop. The Pietre Dure Room at Schloss Favorite in Germany shows what appears to be the same boar panel within its elaborate array (W. Koeppe, ed., Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, New Haven, 2008, p. 84, fig. 91).
Other English cabinets with similar pietra dura and marble mounts are headlined by the famous Duchess of Manchester cabinet now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Designed by Robert Adam in 1771 and executed by Mayhew and Ince, with ormolu mounts by Matthew Boulton, this too uses imported plaques of an earlier date. In fact, one of the plaques is signed and dated 'Baccio Cappelli Fecit Anno 1709 Firenza' (see R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, vol. I, color plate opposite p. 191). A distinctly Irish cabinet with closely related interior displayed behind a glass door appears in the 1742-46 inventory at Barbavilla, Co. Westmeath described as '1 marble cabinet with mahogany frame and glass doors' (see The Knight of Glin and J. Peill, Irish Furnitur, New Haven, 2007, p. 119, fig. 161).
The plaques themselves are Florentine and possibly by Baccio del Bianco (1604-1657), an innovative artisan who produced whimsical scenes for table tops and cabinets at the Medici court of Ferninando II. Three of the plaques - the central bear attacking a lion, the camel and the elk - also feature on a table top at Versailles (see A. Giusti, Pietre Dure and the Art of Florentine Inlay, London, 2006, p. 84, col. pl. 123 and A. Giusti, Pietre Dure: Hardstone in Furniture and Decorations, London, 1992, p. 83, fig. 26). The Versailles plaques likely derive from the same printed source, and the execution and choice of marbles suggest the same workshop. The Pietre Dure Room at Schloss Favorite in Germany shows what appears to be the same boar panel within its elaborate array (W. Koeppe, ed., Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, New Haven, 2008, p. 84, fig. 91).
Other English cabinets with similar pietra dura and marble mounts are headlined by the famous Duchess of Manchester cabinet now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Designed by Robert Adam in 1771 and executed by Mayhew and Ince, with ormolu mounts by Matthew Boulton, this too uses imported plaques of an earlier date. In fact, one of the plaques is signed and dated 'Baccio Cappelli Fecit Anno 1709 Firenza' (see R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. edn., 1954, vol. I, color plate opposite p. 191). A distinctly Irish cabinet with closely related interior displayed behind a glass door appears in the 1742-46 inventory at Barbavilla, Co. Westmeath described as '1 marble cabinet with mahogany frame and glass doors' (see The Knight of Glin and J. Peill, Irish Furnitur, New Haven, 2007, p. 119, fig. 161).