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Lot Essay
The exuberance and quality of the carving on this remarkable side table is typical of Francesco Morini's (1822-1899) work. He supplied several pieces for the Pitti Palace, Florence including a pair of elaborately carved and gilded mirrors and consoles for the Salotto della Regina (M. Chiarini & S. Padovani, Gli Appartamenti reali di Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 1993, pp. 259-261). A closely related table, now in the Museum fr Angewandte Kunst, Vienna and also supplied by Morini to the marchese Gino Capponi for the Palazzo Capponi, Florence, features the same armorial cartouche hung with fruit and swags and legs formed of tritons which bear the carved frieze (S. Chiarugi, Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana, Florence, 1994, vol. I,).
Gino Capponi was an influential figure in Florence's nineteenth-century history, both prior to and under the new regime of the Kingdom of Italy. Although he was blind by 1840, his salon in Florence continued to be a centre for the leading liberal thinkers of Europe and he played an active role in Florentine political life. King Leopold II of Tuscany appointed him Councillor of State in 1847 and, a year later, Minister of State. By 1859 he was serving as Senator in the Tuscan Assembly and in 1860 he was nominated a Senator in the newly created kingdom of Italy. Unfortunately, his failing health prevented him from taking his seat in the Senate and he spent his final years writing his great work, Storia della repubblica di Firenze (1875).
Gino Capponi was an influential figure in Florence's nineteenth-century history, both prior to and under the new regime of the Kingdom of Italy. Although he was blind by 1840, his salon in Florence continued to be a centre for the leading liberal thinkers of Europe and he played an active role in Florentine political life. King Leopold II of Tuscany appointed him Councillor of State in 1847 and, a year later, Minister of State. By 1859 he was serving as Senator in the Tuscan Assembly and in 1860 he was nominated a Senator in the newly created kingdom of Italy. Unfortunately, his failing health prevented him from taking his seat in the Senate and he spent his final years writing his great work, Storia della repubblica di Firenze (1875).