FLORENCE, FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

The delicate colours and Arcadian landscapes on these charming panels are characteristic of 18th Century Florentine pietre dure production and reminiscent of panels from the Galleria dei Lavori. In particular, these plaques are closely related to two roundels depicting traditional coastal scenes, one which features a virtually identical lighthouse. Executed at the Galleria dei Lavori in the first half of the eighteenth century, they are in the collection of the Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence (illustrated F. Rossi, La Pittura di Pietra, Florence, 1984, pp. 104-105). In terms of stones, both sets of panels use a type of translucent alabaster to render the clouds, a comparable pale green stone - possibly diaspro di Sicilia - for the depiction of the sea and a similar verde antico to compose the surrounding landscape and trees.

The popularity of panels featuring rustic port scenes endured throughout the century as exemplified by the set of panels depicting related harbor scenes, incorporated on the superb commode à encoignures by Martin Carlin and Adam Weisweiler, formerly in the Rothschild Collection, Paris, and subsequently sold Christie's, Monaco, 11 December 1999, lot 30 (W. Koeppe and A. Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, New York, 2008, pp. 334-335). Further known examples featuring similar harbor scenes include a George III cabinet in the Gilbert Collection, and the secrétaire-à-abattant executed by Martin Carlin circa 1780, now in the Louvre (A.M. Massinelli, The Gilbert Collection, Hardstones, London, 2000, cat. 6, pp. 44 - 46; A. Giusti, Pietre Dure and the Art of Florentine Inlay, London, 2005, pp. 210-211, respectively).