A NORTH ITALIAN WHITE AND RED-PAINTED LACCA POVERA BUREAU-CABINET
A NORTH ITALIAN WHITE AND RED-PAINTED LACCA POVERA BUREAU-CABINET

PROBABLY VENICE, 18TH CENTURY, REDECORATED IN THE 19TH CENTURY

Details
A NORTH ITALIAN WHITE AND RED-PAINTED LACCA POVERA BUREAU-CABINET
PROBABLY VENICE, 18TH CENTURY, REDECORATED IN THE 19TH CENTURY
Decorated overall with pastoral scenes and foliate strapwork, the arched moulded cornice centred by a courtly scene beneath a canopy, above a pair of doors decorated with figures amidst trees and exotic birds, revealing a scarlet and gold-painted interior fitted with ten variously-sized drawers adorned with floral swags, pigeon holes and dividers, arranged around a central cupboard, above two candle-slides, the bureau with a sloping front concealing a writing-surface with figures amidst trees, a sliding well, arcaded pigeon holes and drawers, above three long serpentine-fronted drawers, the sides depicting further figural scenes and ruins, the plinth base with simulated tortoiseshell bracket feet
95 in. (241 cm.) high; 43 in. (109 cm.) wide; 22¾ in. (57.5 cm.) deep
Literature
Saul Levy, Lacche Veneziane Settecentesche, volume I, Milan, 1967, tav. 152-159.

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Lot Essay

A bureau-cabinet decorated in a comparable white ground with genre scenes, is in the Musei del Castello Sforzesco, Milan, while another with a yellow ground is in the collection of the Casa Accorsi, Moncalieri (A. Disertori, et al., Il Mobile del Settecento, Novara, 1996, pp. 50-51; S. Colombo, L'Arte del Legno e del Mobile in Italia, Bramante, 1981, tav.404). A related bureau-cabinet, again with a yellow colour scheme is in the collection of Fratelli Bacchi, Milan and was part of an exhibition dedicated to lacquer work at the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice from April to October 1938 (Giulio Lorenzetti, Lacche Veneziane del Settecento, Venice, 1938, tav.XIV and XV). In 1927, another with a coloured ground was in the collection of Conte Dino Barozzi (G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Veneziano del '700, volume II, Milan, 1927, tav.CDXVIII-CDXIX). Finally, an important example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Comparable 18th century pieces sold at auction include a white ground lacca povera bureau-cabinet, from the Collection of Princess Lilian of Belgium, sold Sotheby's London 10 June 1999, lot 117 (£113,500 with premium), while another white-ground bureau similarly decorated in lacca povera from the Proprietà Galletto, Genova, was sold Christie's House sale, 19-20 June 2000, lot 45.

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