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Lot Essay
The distinctive inlay of this bureau, with genre and allegorical scenes framed by scrolling foliage and strapwork on a rosewood ground, links it to the work of the Turinese cabinet-maker Luigi Prinotto (active circa 1712- circa). Similar inlay, but generally rather richer and less sparse in design, appears on a group of bureaux attributed to Prinotto, illustrated in G. Ferraris, Pietro Piffetti e gli Ebanisti del Piemonte, Turin, 1985, pp. 168-71.
Frustratingly little is known about Prinotto's career. He became a master cabinet-maker in 1712 and was patronized extensively by the Court in Turin, his first recorded delivery being a fall-front bureau supplied to the Palazzo Reale, Turin in 1723, inlaid with scenes of the 1706 siege of Turin (Ferraris, op. cit., p. 149, fig. 1).
The royal crown of the top of this bureau, accompanied with a monogram which may be read as the initials 'VA', may refer to Vittorio Amedeo II (1666-1732), who as the Duke of Savoy acquired the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 at the Treaty of Utrecht, which he subsequently exchanged for the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720. It is also interesting to note a table of circa 1750 in the Palazzo Reale, Turin, with a very similar monogram and crown celebrating Vittorio Amedeo III's coronation, by Prinotto's illustrious successor as court cabinet-maker, Pietro Piffetti. However, the eagle does not appear to be a regularly used symbol of the Court of Turin, despite its obvious regal connotations, and in the absence of any further documentation or inventory marks for this bureau, a royal attribution should perhaps be treated with caution.
Frustratingly little is known about Prinotto's career. He became a master cabinet-maker in 1712 and was patronized extensively by the Court in Turin, his first recorded delivery being a fall-front bureau supplied to the Palazzo Reale, Turin in 1723, inlaid with scenes of the 1706 siege of Turin (Ferraris, op. cit., p. 149, fig. 1).
The royal crown of the top of this bureau, accompanied with a monogram which may be read as the initials 'VA', may refer to Vittorio Amedeo II (1666-1732), who as the Duke of Savoy acquired the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 at the Treaty of Utrecht, which he subsequently exchanged for the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720. It is also interesting to note a table of circa 1750 in the Palazzo Reale, Turin, with a very similar monogram and crown celebrating Vittorio Amedeo III's coronation, by Prinotto's illustrious successor as court cabinet-maker, Pietro Piffetti. However, the eagle does not appear to be a regularly used symbol of the Court of Turin, despite its obvious regal connotations, and in the absence of any further documentation or inventory marks for this bureau, a royal attribution should perhaps be treated with caution.