CIRCA 1740

As Lady Anne Miller commented in a letter of 1771, written from Naples:- 'This city is famous for a manufacture of tortoiseshell, which they inlay curiously with gold, and are very ingenious at representing any object you choose. The technique of piqu is thought to have originated at the end of the 16th century in Naples. Horn or tortoiseshell was softened in boiling water with olive oil. When soft, a design of mother-of-pearl, gold or silver strips or pinpoints was impressed. Amongst the signed pieces are an inkstand in the Wallace Collection (Inv. no. XXIIIA 35) by Sarao; a tray by the same hand in the Wernher Collection; a cabinet in the Royal Collection in England, which is signed DE LAURENZIE F and an inkstand by Nicolaus Storace, sold by Lord Rothschild at Christie's London, 12 May 1970, lot 40. Indeed, the Rothschilds appear to have formed amongst the greatest collections of piqu historically, both at Mentmore and at Waddesdon, the latter thoroughly discussed in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Furniture, Clocks and Gilt-Bronzes, London, 1974, p.838.