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Lot Essay
Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839), master from 1785 to 1817, took over the workshop of his father, the celebrated Luigi Valadier, on the latters death in 1785. The successful firm had been founded in 1725 by his grandfather Andrea and became the leading silversmith and bronze-founders of Rome for a century. Giuseppe, while concentrating on architectural commissions, also supplied works of art to Pope Pius VI, Duke Luigi Braschi Onesti and Prince Camillo Borghese.
Among a range of other pieces their production included, marble and pietra dura surtout-de-table. Giuseppe Valadier conceived and designed such works of art, his drawings bearing testimony of such creations, and also oversaw the work in the workshops. One of his drawings, now in the Artemis Group collection, London, shows a plan which corresponds exactly to a related surtout-de-table published by A. Gonzàles-Palacios, Il Gusto dei Principi, Milan, 1993, figs. 394-399. The top offered here is closely related in both proportion and arrangement to the surviving drawing.
The two main collections of drawings of the Valadier workshop are in the Artemis Group, London and in the Museo Civico in Faenza. A third less known group of Valadier's drawings is in the Museo Napoleonico in Rome. In this group, interestingly, a drawing with interlaced leaves entwined around a central branch -most probably executed by Giuseppe Valadier or one of his closest assistants- recalls the design of the outer panels found on our surtout-de-table. Furthermore, the swaged ormolu mounts around the border of our top are very reminiscent of Giuseppe Valadier's production.
Among a range of other pieces their production included, marble and pietra dura surtout-de-table. Giuseppe Valadier conceived and designed such works of art, his drawings bearing testimony of such creations, and also oversaw the work in the workshops. One of his drawings, now in the Artemis Group collection, London, shows a plan which corresponds exactly to a related surtout-de-table published by A. Gonzàles-Palacios, Il Gusto dei Principi, Milan, 1993, figs. 394-399. The top offered here is closely related in both proportion and arrangement to the surviving drawing.
The two main collections of drawings of the Valadier workshop are in the Artemis Group, London and in the Museo Civico in Faenza. A third less known group of Valadier's drawings is in the Museo Napoleonico in Rome. In this group, interestingly, a drawing with interlaced leaves entwined around a central branch -most probably executed by Giuseppe Valadier or one of his closest assistants- recalls the design of the outer panels found on our surtout-de-table. Furthermore, the swaged ormolu mounts around the border of our top are very reminiscent of Giuseppe Valadier's production.