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Lot Essay
These exuberant tables are the finest and best preserved examples of a small group of related pieces executed by Lucio and Antonio de Lucci in Venice. The rare works by these craftsmen constitute the only known pieces of Venetian marquetry furniture dating from the second half of the 17th century.
LUCIO AND ANTONIO DE LUCCI
Nothing is known about the De Luccis, apart from the few items signed by them that have come to light. Next to the present pair of tables, a third, closely related table top is recorded on which a very similar Turkish figure is holding an ivory scroll inscribed ANT. DE LUCCI FECE IN VENETIA 1686 (González-Palacios, fig. 597, erroneously shown as fig. 595). A fourth top, possibly made en suite and identically inscribed, was cut up in the eighteenth century to be employed as marquetry decoration on a German writing desk probably constructed in 1764 (Daniela di Castro, 'Una tarsia veneziana del Seicento per un bureau tedesco del Settecento', DecArt, Riviste di arti decorative 1 (2004), pp. 20-25). A fifth, unsigned top, inlaid with a view of NAPOLI DI ROMANIA (presumably Nauplia), can on comparison with the signed ones be attributed to either of the same makers (González-Palacios, fig. 598). As their works are extremely alike, there can be no doubt that Antonio and Luccio de Lucci were related and that they were active in the same workshop.
Whereas Florentine marquetry furniture from the second half of the 17th century is well-known, with the work of the Flemish-born Leonardo van der Vinne standing out, very little ambitious pictorial marquetry made in other Italian cities during this period is recorded. In comparison with the work of Van der Vinne which closely adheres to Parisian models (cf. Colle, pp. 164-171), the marquetry by the De Luccis is characterized by bold scrolled ribbons, exuberant floral patterns and highly ambitious pictorial scenes. The central panels on the present tables show perspective views of colonnaded buildings that are strongly reminiscent of much older designs for marquetry, published by Hans Vredeman de Vries in Antwerp around 1560 (Simon Jervis, Printed furniture designs before 1650, Leeds 1974, figs. 122-141) and reflecting a contemporary South German tradition. These panels are surrounded by vignettes of hunts. The Turkish figures in the upper corners may refer to the defeat of the Turks at the Siege of Vienna in 1683. The grotesque figures depicted in the lower reserves of the marquetry tops are inspired by Jacques Callot's (d. 1635) celebrated series of engravings Varie figure Gobbi di Iacopo Callot Fatto in firenza l'anno 1616. Callot's engravings were first depicted on pietra dura panels executed by Bacino del Bianco in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence (for instance the panel illustrated in A.-M. Giusti, Pietre Dure, London, 1992, fig. 106, which mirrors Callot's engraving 'Le Joueur de flageolet') and figures from these engravings also featured on a bureau-plat that was purchased in 1841 by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch from Edward Holmes Baldock (d.1843), the famed 'Furniture Broker', who traded at the 'Antique Furniture Warehouse' in Hanway Street between 1808 and 1843. This table may have been executed in part by the specialist inlay and 'buhl' manufactory established by Robert Blake in the 1820s on Tottenham Court Road. The 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th Duke of Queensberry improved the extensive Buccleuch estates in Scotland around Bowhill and the Queensberry estate around Drumlanrig and received both, George IV in 1822 and Queen Victoria in 1842, at Dalkeith Castle in Edinburg. In 1841 the Duke also purchased one of Baldock's Sèvres-glorified secretaries, to which he made the addition of his coronet-ensigned cypher (G. de Bellaigue, 'Edward Holmes Baldock', Connoisseur, August 1975, pp. 290-299; and September 1975, pp. 18-25).
THE BASES
The tables are unique in having preserved their original bases, splendid examples of the finest late baroque carving done in Venice; in the fullness of their movement and the richness of the floral decoration they beautifully match the character of the table tops. Of ungilded walnut, these stands demonstrate the influence of the work of the famous Andrea Brustolon (1672-1732), but the pronounced sweep of their legs with the great scrolled feet betrays a different artistic sensibility. Sadly, the identity of their maker remains unknown. It has been suggested that he was the same anonymous sculptor who made the stupendous series of six bookcases for the collector Giandomenico Tiepolo now at the Biblioteca del Seminario in Padua (Colle, no. 72).
LUCIO AND ANTONIO DE LUCCI
Nothing is known about the De Luccis, apart from the few items signed by them that have come to light. Next to the present pair of tables, a third, closely related table top is recorded on which a very similar Turkish figure is holding an ivory scroll inscribed ANT. DE LUCCI FECE IN VENETIA 1686 (González-Palacios, fig. 597, erroneously shown as fig. 595). A fourth top, possibly made en suite and identically inscribed, was cut up in the eighteenth century to be employed as marquetry decoration on a German writing desk probably constructed in 1764 (Daniela di Castro, 'Una tarsia veneziana del Seicento per un bureau tedesco del Settecento', DecArt, Riviste di arti decorative 1 (2004), pp. 20-25). A fifth, unsigned top, inlaid with a view of NAPOLI DI ROMANIA (presumably Nauplia), can on comparison with the signed ones be attributed to either of the same makers (González-Palacios, fig. 598). As their works are extremely alike, there can be no doubt that Antonio and Luccio de Lucci were related and that they were active in the same workshop.
Whereas Florentine marquetry furniture from the second half of the 17th century is well-known, with the work of the Flemish-born Leonardo van der Vinne standing out, very little ambitious pictorial marquetry made in other Italian cities during this period is recorded. In comparison with the work of Van der Vinne which closely adheres to Parisian models (cf. Colle, pp. 164-171), the marquetry by the De Luccis is characterized by bold scrolled ribbons, exuberant floral patterns and highly ambitious pictorial scenes. The central panels on the present tables show perspective views of colonnaded buildings that are strongly reminiscent of much older designs for marquetry, published by Hans Vredeman de Vries in Antwerp around 1560 (Simon Jervis, Printed furniture designs before 1650, Leeds 1974, figs. 122-141) and reflecting a contemporary South German tradition. These panels are surrounded by vignettes of hunts. The Turkish figures in the upper corners may refer to the defeat of the Turks at the Siege of Vienna in 1683. The grotesque figures depicted in the lower reserves of the marquetry tops are inspired by Jacques Callot's (d. 1635) celebrated series of engravings Varie figure Gobbi di Iacopo Callot Fatto in firenza l'anno 1616. Callot's engravings were first depicted on pietra dura panels executed by Bacino del Bianco in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence (for instance the panel illustrated in A.-M. Giusti, Pietre Dure, London, 1992, fig. 106, which mirrors Callot's engraving 'Le Joueur de flageolet') and figures from these engravings also featured on a bureau-plat that was purchased in 1841 by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch from Edward Holmes Baldock (d.1843), the famed 'Furniture Broker', who traded at the 'Antique Furniture Warehouse' in Hanway Street between 1808 and 1843. This table may have been executed in part by the specialist inlay and 'buhl' manufactory established by Robert Blake in the 1820s on Tottenham Court Road. The 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th Duke of Queensberry improved the extensive Buccleuch estates in Scotland around Bowhill and the Queensberry estate around Drumlanrig and received both, George IV in 1822 and Queen Victoria in 1842, at Dalkeith Castle in Edinburg. In 1841 the Duke also purchased one of Baldock's Sèvres-glorified secretaries, to which he made the addition of his coronet-ensigned cypher (G. de Bellaigue, 'Edward Holmes Baldock', Connoisseur, August 1975, pp. 290-299; and September 1975, pp. 18-25).
THE BASES
The tables are unique in having preserved their original bases, splendid examples of the finest late baroque carving done in Venice; in the fullness of their movement and the richness of the floral decoration they beautifully match the character of the table tops. Of ungilded walnut, these stands demonstrate the influence of the work of the famous Andrea Brustolon (1672-1732), but the pronounced sweep of their legs with the great scrolled feet betrays a different artistic sensibility. Sadly, the identity of their maker remains unknown. It has been suggested that he was the same anonymous sculptor who made the stupendous series of six bookcases for the collector Giandomenico Tiepolo now at the Biblioteca del Seminario in Padua (Colle, no. 72).