FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY IBERIAN

The present pair of commodes, richly ornamented with fanciful Eastern motifs, typifies the fascination for the Orient, made available through Northern Italy’s extensive trade contacts with the Near East. The fascination with the Orient took hold at an early stage in Italy principally through the trading ties of ports such as Venice. Dating back to the late sixteenth century, the long lasting appeal for the exotic was particularly noticeable in the Venice, Lombardy and Piedmont regions of Italy, which operated as significant entrepôts of trade. Designers and architects to the Courts created interiors reminiscent of exotic styles based on imported works from the East, such as furniture, glassware, textiles and ceramics.