Lot Essay
A magnificent Venetian giltwood open armchair of the third quarter of the 18th Century, similarly inset with moulded blue glass panels, is in the Museo Vetraio in Murano, (illustrated in E. Colle, Il Mobile Rococò in Italia, Milan, 2003, p.359). According to A. González-Palacios, that armchair is one of the very few remaining examples of such 18th Century production, which most probably served as a model to the successful Venetian workshop of Michelangelo Guggenheim, who produced similar glass panelled giltwood furniture in the 19th Century. For related giltwood and glass consoles, see A. González-Palacios, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, I mobili italiani, Milan, 1996, pp.340-1.