A white Marble Figure of a Spaniel

Captivated in childhood by a series of setters and charmed in adulthood by a coterie of King Charles spaniels, it was almost inevitable that Count Alarico Palmieri's collection of works of art would be canine in inspiration. Alarico Palmieri's youth was spent between the family villa in Rome and the castle near Siena, and at each he was constantly surrounded by dogs: as well as being at the heart of family life, they were also bred to championship standard by his father, and kept for hunting on the Tuscan estate. The breeding kennels were sadly closed on his father's untimely death in the early 60s, but by then Alarico Palmieri had his own dogs; first a tragically short-lived red cocker spaniel, and then his faithful Breton spaniel, Star. Star was given to Alarico Palmieri when he was eleven and henceforward they were inseparable, with Star accompanying his master during his student years in Lausanne, and on his subsequent extensive travels. When the Count finally settled in Geneva, Star, by now a valetudinarian of nineteen years, was still with him. The establishment of a permanent home in Geneva allowed Alarico Palmieri to exercise his other grand passion and in 1989 he opened his renowned antique shop, Galerie Palmieri. His eclectic taste and his confidence and panache in choosing objects - this skill to some extent inherited from his father and grandfather who had both been avid collectors - were given free rein. Whether selecting a piece of Meissen or a Louis XV fauteuil, a netsuke of an Old Master drawing, his eye is unerring. Although the site of the Galerie Palmieri on the famous rue du Rhone provided a suitably spacious and lavish foil to the treasures within. Alarico Palmieri found that business was so brisk that it was spilling out of the bounds of the gallery and into his private apartment; visiting clients would often spot 'must-have' pictures of objects and gradually Alarico Palmieri came to feel that the many transactions and constant changes in his surroundings were taking their toll on his private life. In order that he might have a graceful excuse for refusing to part with things from his own collection - even to the most favoured of his clients - he decided to give it a particular focus; for this focus he chose the most obvious of subjects, his beloved dogs. There began a campaign of voracious buying in which Alarico Palmieri was greatly aided by his mother, Countess Elena Palmieri. he already owned some porcelain and paintings featuring dogs, and the collection was augmented with pieces bought at auction and from dealers all over the world. Anything on a dog theme was snapped up: 18th Century French paintings, Faberge, Victorian bronzes, micro-mosaics and so on. All periods, all styles and all prices were grist to the mill. The hardest items to acquire were, of course, pieces of furniture, but even these could be tracked down. Initially a number of feline pieces also found their way into the flat, but with the rapid expansion of the dog collection, these were soon relegated to a spare bedroom known as the 'Cats Room'. Count Palmieri's decision to exchange his Geneva flat for a house in the country has now prompted him to consider the future of his dogs. Initial concerns over security at his new home seemed to dictate that he should dispose of a number of the most valuable pieces, but eventually he concluded that the collection - excluding only a few very precious mementoes, and some contemporary pieces - should be offered for sale in its entirety. Alarico Palmieri hopes that other dog lovers may gain as much pleasure as he from the marvellous objects which make up his unique collection and, meanwhile, whilst he and his three King Charles Cavaliers, Harriet, Penelope and Indiana Jones, will doubtless miss the camaraderie of their inanimate companions, they can console themselves with the prospect of a happy retirement at their new home in the country.

细节

A white Marble Figure of a Spaniel

19th Century

Shown recumbent, on a shaped rectangular cushion, weathered
27in. (68.5cm.) wide, 13½in. (34cm.) high, 10in. (25.5cm.) deep

来源

with Martin Shopland, London