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拍品專文
Richly encrusted with panels of elaborately-carved fruit, foliage and birds in a variety of vibrantly-coloured and polished hardstones and complemented with life-like cast and repoussé-worked gilt-metal details, this magnificent casket can be firmly attributed to the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence. The superb quality of craftsmanship, with the colours and shades within each individual piece of jasper, agate and marble selected to create the most naturalistic images of fruit, flowers and birds, is without doubt that of the Galleria dei Lavori.
Almost certainly made under the supervision of Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725), director of the workshops of the Galleria dei Lavori under the reign of Duke Cosimo III (1670-1723), the casket reflects his preferred combination of pietra dura, ormolu and ebony, which he successfully used on a number of comparable caskets and which proved so successful, it culminated in the construction of the magnificent Badminton Cabinet in the 1720s. The spectacular creations of the Galleria dei Lavori, originally founded by Ferdinand I Medici in 1588, were admired at all the courts of Europe and often offered as diplomatic gifts by the Medici. In fact, they proved so desirable Louis XIV even tried to emulate the success of the Galleria dei Lavori when he created the Gobelins workshops in 1667 and imported Italian craftsmen such as Domenico Cucci. However, the masterpieces created by the brilliant artist Foggini and the sculptor Massimo Soldani-Benzi (1656-1740) proved so successful, the production of the Galleria dei Lavori benefitted for decades to come and its naturalistic compositions in both two-dimensional and fully modeled effect, as found here, dominated the market for pietra dura for another two centuries. The carved fruit motif, as found on the casket here, was so popular that Foggini actually created a new position in the workshop called fruttista, specifically for the cutting, carving and polishing of hard stones in imitation of fruit. In 1706 Foggini designed a fruit-encrusted and gilt ribbon-tied prie dieu for the Electress Palatine, which is now at the Pitti Palace (see A.M. Giusti, op. cit., p. 70, pl. 45). Foggini played a remarkably active role as director of the Medici workshops, supervising every detail of the works of art produced. This is demonstrated by a fascinating series of drawings by him in the Giornale of the workshops, for caskets and gilt-bronze mounts, executed towards the end of his career (circa 1713-1718), now in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe in the Uffizi, Florence (see Gonzalez-Palacios, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 41-4, and vol. II, pp. 54-60, figs. 57-77).
A small group of related caskets, similarly combining pietra dura with gilt-bronze mounts against an ebony construction are recorded:
- one in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kassel (A Gonzalez-Palacios op. cit., vol. II, fig. 75)
- one previously in the collection of prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon (1679-1754), acquired while Governor of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany under Francesco I (Gonzalez-Palacios, op. cit., vol. II, figs. 75-6)
- one at The Vyne, Hampshire, where it is recorded as early as 1752, probably acquired by John Chute on the Grand Tour in the 1740's (Gonzalez-Palacios op. cit., vol. II, fig. 83) [see illustration]
- one formerly in the collection of William Beckford, acquired at his sale in 1823 at Fonthill by George Hammond Lucy for Charlecote Park, Warwickshire, where it remains (P. Hewat-Jaboor/B. McLeod et al., William Beckford, 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent, New Haven, 2002, pp. 358-9, cat. 83).
- one sold at Christie's, London, 12 December 2002, lot 20 (171,650), with two-dimensional pietra dura panels but fully-modelled fruit within the bordering trails
The early history of this spectacular casket remains unknown; however, the richly mounted and purpose-built neo-classical stand, which appears to be a Parisian construction, suggests the casket was in the first half of the 19th century either in a French collection - and the oval paper label marked 'M' to the underside is of a type known to have been used for inventory purposes in French, German and indeed English collections in the 19th century - or it was at that time owned by a Parisian marchand mercier.
We are grateful to Monsieur Hervé Obligi, marqueteur de pierres dures, for his help with the preparation of the catalogue entry.
Almost certainly made under the supervision of Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725), director of the workshops of the Galleria dei Lavori under the reign of Duke Cosimo III (1670-1723), the casket reflects his preferred combination of pietra dura, ormolu and ebony, which he successfully used on a number of comparable caskets and which proved so successful, it culminated in the construction of the magnificent Badminton Cabinet in the 1720s. The spectacular creations of the Galleria dei Lavori, originally founded by Ferdinand I Medici in 1588, were admired at all the courts of Europe and often offered as diplomatic gifts by the Medici. In fact, they proved so desirable Louis XIV even tried to emulate the success of the Galleria dei Lavori when he created the Gobelins workshops in 1667 and imported Italian craftsmen such as Domenico Cucci. However, the masterpieces created by the brilliant artist Foggini and the sculptor Massimo Soldani-Benzi (1656-1740) proved so successful, the production of the Galleria dei Lavori benefitted for decades to come and its naturalistic compositions in both two-dimensional and fully modeled effect, as found here, dominated the market for pietra dura for another two centuries. The carved fruit motif, as found on the casket here, was so popular that Foggini actually created a new position in the workshop called fruttista, specifically for the cutting, carving and polishing of hard stones in imitation of fruit. In 1706 Foggini designed a fruit-encrusted and gilt ribbon-tied prie dieu for the Electress Palatine, which is now at the Pitti Palace (see A.M. Giusti, op. cit., p. 70, pl. 45). Foggini played a remarkably active role as director of the Medici workshops, supervising every detail of the works of art produced. This is demonstrated by a fascinating series of drawings by him in the Giornale of the workshops, for caskets and gilt-bronze mounts, executed towards the end of his career (circa 1713-1718), now in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe in the Uffizi, Florence (see Gonzalez-Palacios, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 41-4, and vol. II, pp. 54-60, figs. 57-77).
A small group of related caskets, similarly combining pietra dura with gilt-bronze mounts against an ebony construction are recorded:
- one in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kassel (A Gonzalez-Palacios op. cit., vol. II, fig. 75)
- one previously in the collection of prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon (1679-1754), acquired while Governor of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany under Francesco I (Gonzalez-Palacios, op. cit., vol. II, figs. 75-6)
- one at The Vyne, Hampshire, where it is recorded as early as 1752, probably acquired by John Chute on the Grand Tour in the 1740's (Gonzalez-Palacios op. cit., vol. II, fig. 83) [see illustration]
- one formerly in the collection of William Beckford, acquired at his sale in 1823 at Fonthill by George Hammond Lucy for Charlecote Park, Warwickshire, where it remains (P. Hewat-Jaboor/B. McLeod et al., William Beckford, 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent, New Haven, 2002, pp. 358-9, cat. 83).
- one sold at Christie's, London, 12 December 2002, lot 20 (171,650), with two-dimensional pietra dura panels but fully-modelled fruit within the bordering trails
The early history of this spectacular casket remains unknown; however, the richly mounted and purpose-built neo-classical stand, which appears to be a Parisian construction, suggests the casket was in the first half of the 19th century either in a French collection - and the oval paper label marked 'M' to the underside is of a type known to have been used for inventory purposes in French, German and indeed English collections in the 19th century - or it was at that time owned by a Parisian marchand mercier.
We are grateful to Monsieur Hervé Obligi, marqueteur de pierres dures, for his help with the preparation of the catalogue entry.