MILAN, CIRCA 1780-1800, POSSIBLY ORIGINALLY WITH A MARQUETRY TOP

This commode relates to the work of the Milanese cabinet-maker Giuseppe Maggiolini (1793-1814). He was one of the most celebrated Italian cabinet makers of the neo-classical period and worked extensively for the aristocracy of Northern Italy. The Marchese Litta, along with the designer Giuseppe Levati, first recognized his talents as an intarsiatore in the 1760s. His many projects included the furnishing of the Palazzo Ducale in Milan, the Villa Reale in Monza and the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua. One of the most distinctive and repeated motifs was the lush acanthus leaf scroll terminating in a flowerhead, as seen on the front of this commode. It also appears in Maggiolini's drawings as well as his executed work, such as a panel on a dressing table, in G. Beretti, Giuseppe Maggiolini, Milan, 1994, figs. 209, 216-218. A rosette at the center of a small circular table illustrated in plate seven of Beretti is also closely related to the large central rosette on this commode.