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Lot Essay
The workshops of the Falcini family were established in the early 19th century in the small town of Campi, near Florence, by Gaetano Giuseppe Falcini (d. 1846). In the late 1820s, Luigi, the latter's eldest son (d. 1861), opened a bottega in the via del Fosso, Florence, and was later joined by his brother Angiolo (d. 1850). The first piece to be exhibited by the Falcini brothers was a prize-winning marquetry table shown at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 1836, and subsequently purchased by Grand Duke Leopold II for his private collection. The firm continued to exhibit at the Academy throughout the 1840s and completed important commissions for a number of prominent patrons, among which Prince Anatole Demidoff (for pieces by Falcini commissioned by Prince Demidoff see Sotheby's sale of the Villa San Donato, Florence, 21-24 April 1969, lots 115-117), the Duchess of Casigliano and Countess Borghesi. After the death of Angiolo Falcini in 1850, Luigi was joined by his two sons, Alessandro and Cesare, who continued the business until 1882.
For the most part, work produced by the Falcinis is characterized by the prolific use of floral marquetry, emulating the style of 17th century Dutch and Flemish cabinet-makers, in particular of Leonardo van der Vinne (d. 1713), who had played an active role in the Medici's Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Depicting scenes from Torquatto Tasso's celebrated epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata (1575), the pictoral marquetry of this chest, or cassettone, makes it a highly unusual piece in the firm's oeuvre. Of even greater interest is an account of a visit to the Falcini workshop in 1855, in which the Florentine art critic and journalist, Icilio Sferza, describes in detail this very piece: "a chest of the richest material, of exquisite workmanship...lavishly decorated with historical scenes that seemed almost the work of a brush, rather than the arrangment of tiny pieces of different woods". Speaking of the top he wrote: "The hermit...leading the Crusaders up the Mount of Olives...", and of the two doors: "Sweno...the Danish King who, set upon by a large band of barbarians, tries to defend the Christian banner", and "The two hermits trying to revive the two followers of Sweno, whom we see lying injured in the other scene" (see La Illustrazione, Florence, 1855, pp. 61-2).
A spectactular ormolu-mounted secretaire-cabinet by the Falcinis, reputedly from the collection of the Dukes of Hamilton, Hamilton Palace, Scotland, was sold Christie's London, 14 May 1998, lot 230 (£54,300).
For the most part, work produced by the Falcinis is characterized by the prolific use of floral marquetry, emulating the style of 17th century Dutch and Flemish cabinet-makers, in particular of Leonardo van der Vinne (d. 1713), who had played an active role in the Medici's Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Depicting scenes from Torquatto Tasso's celebrated epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata (1575), the pictoral marquetry of this chest, or cassettone, makes it a highly unusual piece in the firm's oeuvre. Of even greater interest is an account of a visit to the Falcini workshop in 1855, in which the Florentine art critic and journalist, Icilio Sferza, describes in detail this very piece: "a chest of the richest material, of exquisite workmanship...lavishly decorated with historical scenes that seemed almost the work of a brush, rather than the arrangment of tiny pieces of different woods". Speaking of the top he wrote: "The hermit...leading the Crusaders up the Mount of Olives...", and of the two doors: "Sweno...the Danish King who, set upon by a large band of barbarians, tries to defend the Christian banner", and "The two hermits trying to revive the two followers of Sweno, whom we see lying injured in the other scene" (see La Illustrazione, Florence, 1855, pp. 61-2).
A spectactular ormolu-mounted secretaire-cabinet by the Falcinis, reputedly from the collection of the Dukes of Hamilton, Hamilton Palace, Scotland, was sold Christie's London, 14 May 1998, lot 230 (£54,300).