Lot Essay
A pair of identical jardinières but with the maidens facing inwards and with an additional plinth, previously in the collection of the Princes Constantin and Leon Radziwill, Château d'Ermenonville, and subsequently at Château des Célestins, is illustrated in L. Faton, 'Les Consoles Empire de Bernard Steinitz', L'Estampille/Objet d'Art, June 1994, p. 67, and is currently on the Paris art market.
Another jardinière of this model at Villa Silva, Cimisello Balsamo, Milan, is illustrated in V. Brosio, Ambiente dell'Ottocento 1963, p. 46. This may have been one of the furnishings commissioned by Count Ercole Silva from Giuseppe Levati (1739-1828) as part of an extensive redecoration scheme undertaken in the 1780's. Levati's work there was a rich combination of neoclassical and chinoiserie motifs and included both furnishings and painted decoration. A watercolor design attributed to Levati for one of the principal rooms includes leaf-wrapped lions' masks similar to the frieze on the jardinères offered here (see A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, La Toscana e L'Italia Settentrionale, 1986, vol. II, p. 274, fig. 557). Levati is also well known for producing a number of designs for the marquetry furniture of Giuseppe Maggiolini (see G. Morrazoni, Il Mobile del Maggiolini, 1957, pls. LXXIV-LXXXI). He worked extensively on decorative schemes for the Palazzo Reale and the Chiesa di San Babila e Santi Stefano e Carmine in Milan. Villa Silva is now demolished and the site is a public property renamed Villa Ghirlanda.
This model is based on a design by Clodion (d. 1814), of which there are two examples in plaster in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Another design for a closely related jardinière (c. 1825-1830) by Sienese architect Agostino Fantastici is illustrated in A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Roma e il Regno delle Due Sicilie, 1984, p. 49, fig. 71.
Another jardinière of this model at Villa Silva, Cimisello Balsamo, Milan, is illustrated in V. Brosio, Ambiente dell'Ottocento 1963, p. 46. This may have been one of the furnishings commissioned by Count Ercole Silva from Giuseppe Levati (1739-1828) as part of an extensive redecoration scheme undertaken in the 1780's. Levati's work there was a rich combination of neoclassical and chinoiserie motifs and included both furnishings and painted decoration. A watercolor design attributed to Levati for one of the principal rooms includes leaf-wrapped lions' masks similar to the frieze on the jardinères offered here (see A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, La Toscana e L'Italia Settentrionale, 1986, vol. II, p. 274, fig. 557). Levati is also well known for producing a number of designs for the marquetry furniture of Giuseppe Maggiolini (see G. Morrazoni, Il Mobile del Maggiolini, 1957, pls. LXXIV-LXXXI). He worked extensively on decorative schemes for the Palazzo Reale and the Chiesa di San Babila e Santi Stefano e Carmine in Milan. Villa Silva is now demolished and the site is a public property renamed Villa Ghirlanda.
This model is based on a design by Clodion (d. 1814), of which there are two examples in plaster in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Another design for a closely related jardinière (c. 1825-1830) by Sienese architect Agostino Fantastici is illustrated in A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Roma e il Regno delle Due Sicilie, 1984, p. 49, fig. 71.