THE CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO THE OPIFICIO DELLE PIETRE DURE, FLORENCE, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY, THE STAND REMODELLED CIRCA 1820-30, POSSIBLY BY ROBERT HUME OR MOREL & HUGHES

The extraordinary architectural design of this magnificent mid-17th century Florentine cabinet and its decoration of pietre dure plaques, rock crystal columns, and gilt-bronze mounts firmly place it among the most luxurious productions of the Grand Ducal workshops. With its stand remodelled in England in the early 19th century, the cabinet is testament to the enduring international fascination for statement pieces of ebony furniture mounted with semi-precious materials.

AN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

The monumental shape of the cabinet proudly embodies the synergy of art and architecture in the 17th century. With its balustraded gallery lined with gilt-bronze statues, graduated breakfront façade, finial-mounted pediments and Corinthian capitals on spirally-turned crystal columns, the design recalls the theatrical language of late Renaissance and early Baroque architecture exemplified by Andrea Palladio’s (1508-1580) Teatro Olimpico at Vicenza (built 1580-1585) and Carlo Maderno’s (1556-1629) façades at the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Solomonic rock crystal columns further recall the great bronze pillars of Bernini's baroque masterpiece, the baldachin in St. Peter’s. These acclaimed edifices provided direct inspiration for cabinet-makers across Europe. The celebrated Cucci March cabinet for example (sold Christie’s, London, 10 December 2004, lot 875), a richly decorated cabinet made in France for the Queen of Sweden by the Italian Domenico Cucci using Florentine pietra dura plaques, recalls the overall architectural design of our own. Further examples of such cabinets made in Augsburg and Prague reveal their international appeal and high desirability at European princely and royal courts.

PRECIOUS PIETRE DURE AND ROCK CRYSTAL

The seventeen pietre dure panels that are mounted on the cabinet were undoubtedly made at the Grand Ducal workshop in Florence, the Opificio delle pietre dure in the Galleria de’ Lavori, founded in 1588 by Grand Duke Ferdinand I (1549-1609). The panels depicting vases of flowers surrounded by birds and insects are characteristic of the production of the workshops. The vases of lapis lazuli present on our cabinet feature on related Florentine cabinets including one made for Eleonora, Duchess of Mantua on her marriage to Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor currently preserved in the Hofmobiliendepot, Vienna, as well as the Barberini cabinet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 1988.19), and a cabinet sold Drouot, Paris, 3 October 1998, lot 36. The smaller panels depicting birds perched on flowering branches are also characteristic of the output of the Galleria de’ Lavori and are based on the drawings of Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627). Ligozzi executed drawings of botanical and zoological subjects and provided influential designs to the Florentine lapidaries.

The rich combination of precious materials indicates that this cabinet was a commission of considerable cost and importance and of comparable decoration to a famous cabinet, now lost, made for Ferdinand I de' Medici (1549-1609) on display in the Tribuna of the Uffizi in the 17th century. The English diarist and early grand tourist John Evelyn (1620-1706) visited the Galleria de’ Lavori in October 1644 and commented enthusiastically on a cabinet ‘of ebony, lazuli and jasper’ […] ‘so adorned and furnished with crystals, agates, and sculptures, as exceeds any description.…’ (John Evelyn, The Diary of John Evelyn, Vol. 1, 2012, Project Gutenberg, p.91). Such a description might apply equally to our own cabinet.

Cabinets of this design and stature were prestigious pieces of furniture and it is not surprising that they appealed to scholars and collectors like Evelyn, intended as they were to store curios and correspondence. With its plaques and strapwork of semi-precious stones recalling the mosaics of ancient Rome, classical putti and deities of gilt-bronze, and references to contemporary architecture, this cabinet was a bold statement of intellectual humanist intent, intended to express not only the wealth but also the learning of its owner. That the columns are made of rock-crystal is particularly rare and would be more usually seen on precious caskets made in Venice, like the one from the Rothschild Collection sold Christie’s, London 4 July 2019, lot 14 . Some smaller 17th century cabinets incorporating spirally-turned rock crystal columns and balustrades are known, including one with similar Roman-style strapwork and gilt-bronze figures formerly in the collection of Baron Salomon de Rothschild, sold (incorporated into a later cabinet) in the sale of Akram Ojjeh, Christie’s, Paris, 11 December 1999, lot 13, illustrated here. A further related table cabinet with similar columns, balustrade and architectural form as our own was sold Christie’s, London, 1st October 1998, lot 300, also illustrated.

AN ENGLISH PROVENANCE?

The stand of our cabinet was readapted in England in the early 19th century and is related to the work of Robert Hume & Son (1808-1845) and Morel & Hughes (1790-1831), indicating that this cabinet belonged to one of the important British collections of the period. Pietra-dura-mounted ebony cabinets had long been highly sought after by members of the British aristocracy making the Grand Tour, as epitomised by the Badminton cabinet acquired in the 18th century by the Duke of Beaufort. The early 19th century saw a revival in the taste for these objects, led by patrons of art such as George IV (1762-1830), William Beckford (1766-1844), George Watson-Taylor (1771-1841) and the 3rd Duke of Northumberland (1785-1847). Our stand reuses verre églomisé and gilt-bronze elements of an original 17th century stand alongside newer elements such as the spirally-turned legs, mirror plates and feet mounted with Boulle-style mounts.

These elements recall the work of both Hume who made furniture for George IV and William Beckford at Fonthill Abbey and Morel & Hughes. Known for his work with pietra dura furniture, Hume employs spiral turning and gadrooned mounts on a number of his works, including a cabinet in the Crimson Drawing Room at Windsor Castle (RCIN 31307). More closely related is the stand of a pietra dura cabinet inherited by the Duke of Hamilton from William Beckford and sold in the Hamilton Palace sale, Christie’s 4 July 1882, lot 996. As well as the gadrooned mounts of the feet, the stand incorporates similar stone and mirror plates to the stand of our cabinet. Our stand also recalls the work of Morel & Hughes for the Duke of Northumberland at Syon House and Alnwick Castle and in particular their restoration and adaption of pietra dura cabinets and stands, each of them like our cabinet being fitted with mirror plates and ebony turned supports (Clare Baxter, The transformation of Northumberland House : interior decoration and furniture for the Third Duke of Northumberland by Nicholas Morel and Robert Hughes, University of St. Andrews, 2000, pp. 111-112). Three such stands by Morel & Hughes are currently preserved in the Print Room at Syon House.