A RECTANGULAR PIETRA DURA RELIEF OF FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE

FLORENTINE, LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Details

A RECTANGULAR PIETRA DURA RELIEF OF FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE
FLORENTINE, LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY
In a later, elaborate giltwood frame; the reverse with a paper label inscribed 'Italian mosaique left to W.L. Dobson. K.C.M.G. by his uncle Arthur Smith (who brought him up after his mother's death) from Italy it was brought & left in his will when he died at "The Shrubery" Walmer (?), about 1889 where A. Smith lived for years on leaving "Beaufront" (?) Tasmania'; minor damages to the frame
9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.3 cm.) the panel; 13¼ x 16 5/8 in.(33.6 x 42.3 cm.) the frame

Provenance

Arthur Smith.
Given by the above to Sir William Lambert Dobson KCMG (1833-1898).

Brought to you by

Giles Forster

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Lot Essay

The choice of richly coloured stones, style and pictorial quality of the present plaque unquestionably connect it to Florentine hardstone workshops at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. The closest comparisons are the eight circular plaques of maritime scenes housed in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence (A.-M. Giusti, P. Mazzoni and A. Pampaloni Martelli, Il Museo dell' Opificio delle Pietre Dure A Firenze, Milan, 1978, nos. 46-53) and the pietra dura inlaid casket depicting near-identical landscapes in the Gilbert Collection, London (A. M. Massinelli, The Gilbert Collection Hardstones, London, 2000, no. 7). These examples all date from this late baroque period when the demand for such decorative works was at its peak.

The present plaque belonged to Sir William Lambert Dobson KCMG (1833- 1898), who was Chief Justice of Tasmania from 1885 until his death.

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