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拍品專文
This impressive set of giltwood seat furniture is closely related to a magnificent and extensive set comprising seventeen armchairs, a sofa and eight stools, supplied by Henry Thomas Peters to King Carlo Alberto of Piedmont-Sardinia (1798-1849) for the Presence Chamber (Camera delle Udienze or Sala di Ricevimento) of the Palazzo Reale in Genoa (A. González-Palacios, Il Mobile in Liguria, Milan, 1996, p. 324, pl. 387). On 28 June 1843, this comparable set was recorded as, ‘Per la nuova Sala di Ricevimento di S.M il Re...a norma del relativo disegno...17 seggioloni di legno di noce intagliati, 1 sofa' grande idem, 8 tabourets idem £ 5,340’. The gilding was undertaken between 1842 and 1843 by Giovanni Luca Francesco Bafico, and as noted in the accounts dated December 1843 came to the princely sum of £4,600. Bafico may also have been responsible for the original gilding of the present set. The Royal set bears the King’s initials ‘CA’ for Carlo Alberto, and features similar cornucopia and top rail to that found on the set offered here.
Both sets of seat furniture were possibly designed by the celebrated Piedmontese architect and designer, Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860), whose designs for the ceiling of the Presence Chamber are held in the Archiginnasio Library in Bologna. There are similarities between furniture designs attributed to Palagi, including the throne chairs of King Carlo Alberto in the Royal Palace of Turin, executed circa 1835 by Gabriele Cappello, with cornucopia flanking the back of the seat. To date, the only documented pieces of furniture made by Peters, after designs by Palagi, are the three chest of drawers preserved at the Royal residence of Racconigi, Piedmont.
Enrico Tommaso Peters (active Genoa circa 1817, regio ebanista 1836-46, d. 1852).
Henry Thomas Peters’ English antecedents remain obscure although he probably began his career in England. However, he is not listed in Beard and Gilbert’s Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840. He arrived in Genoa in circa 1817, and by 1824 had established a workshop in Via Balbi, a neighbourhood in which the Royal Palace and other noble residences were located; today some of his works are preserved in the Palazzo Rosso, Genoa and were probably bequests from the various aristocratic families for whom he worked, including the Brignole Sale family. He initially specialised in mahogany in the Regency-style but by 1821-25 was making Empire-style giltwood furniture. In the local Gazzetta, Peters described himself as, 'scagnettiere e negoziante in grosso e in dettaglio di mahogany e di altri legni particolari forestieri', and maker of ' letti, seggiole, scrigni, serittoj, tavole, sofa’, ecc' [‘chairmaker, wholesaler and retailer of mahogany and other imported woods; maker of beds, chairs, boxes, desks, tables, sofas, etc.’]. His resultant success enabled him to open a shop in Palazzo Cambiaso (either Via Garibaldi or Piazza Fossatello), and subsequently, as noted in the Gazzetta on 14 February 1835, he moved to the first floor of the Palazzo De Mari.
Between 1836 and 1846, he supplied furniture to the Royal House of Savoy for their palaces in Turin, Genoa and Racconigi, including the aforementioned Palazzo Reale set, and notably, in 1841, furniture for the wedding of Prince Vittorio Emanuele. In 1846, Peters and his extensive workshop won the silver medal at the Esposizione dei Prodotti e delle Manifatture Nazionali.
Despite an illustrious career, his business later went into decline, and by 1849 he was declared bankrupt. He died in September 1852, his obituary mourning the loss of an entrepreneur described as more of a paternal figure than a manager to his numerous workers, 'padre piu' che principale degli operaj da lui dipendenti'.
Both sets of seat furniture were possibly designed by the celebrated Piedmontese architect and designer, Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860), whose designs for the ceiling of the Presence Chamber are held in the Archiginnasio Library in Bologna. There are similarities between furniture designs attributed to Palagi, including the throne chairs of King Carlo Alberto in the Royal Palace of Turin, executed circa 1835 by Gabriele Cappello, with cornucopia flanking the back of the seat. To date, the only documented pieces of furniture made by Peters, after designs by Palagi, are the three chest of drawers preserved at the Royal residence of Racconigi, Piedmont.
Enrico Tommaso Peters (active Genoa circa 1817, regio ebanista 1836-46, d. 1852).
Henry Thomas Peters’ English antecedents remain obscure although he probably began his career in England. However, he is not listed in Beard and Gilbert’s Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840. He arrived in Genoa in circa 1817, and by 1824 had established a workshop in Via Balbi, a neighbourhood in which the Royal Palace and other noble residences were located; today some of his works are preserved in the Palazzo Rosso, Genoa and were probably bequests from the various aristocratic families for whom he worked, including the Brignole Sale family. He initially specialised in mahogany in the Regency-style but by 1821-25 was making Empire-style giltwood furniture. In the local Gazzetta, Peters described himself as, 'scagnettiere e negoziante in grosso e in dettaglio di mahogany e di altri legni particolari forestieri', and maker of ' letti, seggiole, scrigni, serittoj, tavole, sofa’, ecc' [‘chairmaker, wholesaler and retailer of mahogany and other imported woods; maker of beds, chairs, boxes, desks, tables, sofas, etc.’]. His resultant success enabled him to open a shop in Palazzo Cambiaso (either Via Garibaldi or Piazza Fossatello), and subsequently, as noted in the Gazzetta on 14 February 1835, he moved to the first floor of the Palazzo De Mari.
Between 1836 and 1846, he supplied furniture to the Royal House of Savoy for their palaces in Turin, Genoa and Racconigi, including the aforementioned Palazzo Reale set, and notably, in 1841, furniture for the wedding of Prince Vittorio Emanuele. In 1846, Peters and his extensive workshop won the silver medal at the Esposizione dei Prodotti e delle Manifatture Nazionali.
Despite an illustrious career, his business later went into decline, and by 1849 he was declared bankrupt. He died in September 1852, his obituary mourning the loss of an entrepreneur described as more of a paternal figure than a manager to his numerous workers, 'padre piu' che principale degli operaj da lui dipendenti'.