NAPLES, MID-18TH CENTURY

The sinuous outline, superb naturalistic carving, as well as the distinctive incurved feet of these console tables are characteristic of Neapolitan production of the mid-18th Century. Although no documents relating to the present consoles survive, the quality of the carving, the scale and design suggest they formed part of an important commission. A group of related consoles attributed to Gennaro di Fiore, one of the most skillful of the intagliatori in Naples, was supplied to the Royal Palaces in this period. Some pieces attributed to di Fiore are discussed by A. González-Palacios in Civilta del '700 a Napoli, 1734-1799, vol. II, Florence, 1980, p. 201, no. 443.