Lot Essay
The decoration of this green-japanned armchair is extremely closely related to that of the celebrated suite of furniture which furnished a salotto known as the green-lacquer drawing room from the Palazzo Calbo-Crotta agli Scalzi, on the Canal Grande in Venice, and which consisted of about thirty pieces of furniture including a console and its pier glass, two commodes with en suite mirrors, four small consoles and eleven armchairs, all of them green-japanned and harmoniously decorated with gilt chinoiseries motifs. The upholstery of the armchairs as well as the wall hangings consisted of silk painted with chinoiserie motifs. It is interesting to note that there is only the uneven number of eleven armchairs recorded in that suite of furniture.
The furniture from this Palazzo was subsequently moved to its present location at the Civico Museo Correr, Ca'Rezzonico, Venice. It is still regarded as the epitome of Venitian 18th Century lacquer furniture art. Other pieces from this suite, including an armchair, are illustrated in C. Alberici, il Mobile Veneto, Milano, 1980, pp. 247-249 and 254, illus. 360-364. For further illustrations see G. Lorenzetti, Lacche Veneziane del Settecento, Venice, 1938, p. 40, nos. 160-161, plate XXIX, fig. 46, and plate XXXII, figs. 56-58 and nos. 155-156; and G. Mariacher, Ca' Rezzonico - An illustrated Guide, Venice, 1967, no. 168, as well as G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Veneziano del '700, Milano, 1958, plate CDXIV.
The furniture from this Palazzo was subsequently moved to its present location at the Civico Museo Correr, Ca'Rezzonico, Venice. It is still regarded as the epitome of Venitian 18th Century lacquer furniture art. Other pieces from this suite, including an armchair, are illustrated in C. Alberici, il Mobile Veneto, Milano, 1980, pp. 247-249 and 254, illus. 360-364. For further illustrations see G. Lorenzetti, Lacche Veneziane del Settecento, Venice, 1938, p. 40, nos. 160-161, plate XXIX, fig. 46, and plate XXXII, figs. 56-58 and nos. 155-156; and G. Mariacher, Ca' Rezzonico - An illustrated Guide, Venice, 1967, no. 168, as well as G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Veneziano del '700, Milano, 1958, plate CDXIV.