.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The finely carved figures of these jardinières relate closely to the figural supports of a set of four side tables that were supplied to Prince Marcantonio Borghese for the Galleria a Pianterreno, today the Sala degli Imperatori, in the Villa Borghese at the Porta Pinciana in Rome in 1780 (A. González-Palacios, Fasto Romano, Rome, 1991, p. 184, cat. 133). That commission is reasonably well documented through correspondences during the period, for they are first mentioned by Vincenzo Pacetti (1746 - 1820) on 12 February 1780:
il Sig. Asprucci mi ha dato da fare un modello in grande per un tavolino che va situati (sic.) nella Galleria de V. Pinciana
This short text reveals that it was Antonio Apsrucci (1723 - 1808), the architect and designer for Prince Marcantonio Borghese, who placed the commission with the carver Pacetti. Asprucci had been entrusted with the extensive re-decoration of the palace following Borghese's marriage to the enormously wealthy heiress Anna Maria Salviati and seems to have extensively controlled the designs of the interior decoration of the palace. The table that resulted from this initial model is probably that which is today in the palazzo Caetani in Rome (A. González-Palacios, Il Gusto dei Principi, Milan, 1993, vol. II, p. 229, fig. 450.). The set of four tables for which the Caetani table served as model, is later recorded in a document of 22 November 1780 and mentions Pacetti assisting the 'carver' with the figural supports. Unfortunately the name of the actual carver is not listed, but it is very possible that it was Antonio Landucci, who was repeatedly employed by Asprucci during these years. Landucci had been commissioned by Principe Marcantonio Borghese, through Asprucci, to supply furniture to the Palazzo Borghese in 1773 and is recorded working for him for a decade. The name of Antonio Landucci subsequently ceases to feature in the Borghese bills, but his work appears to have been continued by Lucia Landucci, his widow or perhaps his daughter.
il Sig. Asprucci mi ha dato da fare un modello in grande per un tavolino che va situati (sic.) nella Galleria de V. Pinciana
This short text reveals that it was Antonio Apsrucci (1723 - 1808), the architect and designer for Prince Marcantonio Borghese, who placed the commission with the carver Pacetti. Asprucci had been entrusted with the extensive re-decoration of the palace following Borghese's marriage to the enormously wealthy heiress Anna Maria Salviati and seems to have extensively controlled the designs of the interior decoration of the palace. The table that resulted from this initial model is probably that which is today in the palazzo Caetani in Rome (A. González-Palacios, Il Gusto dei Principi, Milan, 1993, vol. II, p. 229, fig. 450.). The set of four tables for which the Caetani table served as model, is later recorded in a document of 22 November 1780 and mentions Pacetti assisting the 'carver' with the figural supports. Unfortunately the name of the actual carver is not listed, but it is very possible that it was Antonio Landucci, who was repeatedly employed by Asprucci during these years. Landucci had been commissioned by Principe Marcantonio Borghese, through Asprucci, to supply furniture to the Palazzo Borghese in 1773 and is recorded working for him for a decade. The name of Antonio Landucci subsequently ceases to feature in the Borghese bills, but his work appears to have been continued by Lucia Landucci, his widow or perhaps his daughter.