AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PIETRA DURA, PARCEL-GILT EBONY AND EBONISED CABINET
AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PIETRA DURA, PARCEL-GILT EBONY AND EBONISED CABINET
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AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PIETRA DURA, PARCEL-GILT EBONY AND EBONISED CABINET

SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

Details
AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PIETRA DURA, PARCEL-GILT EBONY AND EBONISED CABINET
SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY
Decorated overall with hardstones including amethyst, lapis lazuli, Bianco e nero, Rosso antico, Giallo Antico, alabaster and onyx, the plaques depicting birds, fruit and floral sprays, the rectangular three-quarter balustraded gallery surmounted by spread-eagle finials, above a moulded frieze and an architectural front with nineteen variously-sized drawers, arranged around a central cupboard door flanked by spirally-turned pilasters and two shell-decorated volutes, the sides with doors simulated as drawers and enclosing shelves lined with marbelised paper, on a modern ebonised stand, losses to the ebonised mouldings, the gilt figures in the niches and putti associated
41½ in. (210 cm.) high; 72 in. (182 cm.) wide; 22¾ in. (58 cm.) deep, overall
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Christie's London, 6 November 2008, lot 569.

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Amelia Walker
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Lot Essay

Splendid ebony cabinets such as this, elaborately conceived to display costly Florentine pietra dura panels from the Medici workshops, were mainly produced in Florence and Rome and favoured by a growing population of wealthy patrons. The precious trompe l'oeil mosaics of marbles and hardstones epitomise the princely magnificence of the Opificio delle pietre dure, founded in 1588 by Grand Duke Ferdinand I de Medici, while their never-fading flowers evoke the Arcadian concept of perpetual spring or 'Ver perpetuum'. The richest and most striking element of the façade, framed by drawers embellished with fruiting branches and floral sprays, is the central panel depicting an ormolu-mounted and flower-filled vase. The vase isone of the earliest and most favoured subjects of the grand ducal workshops and can also be found on large-scale panels for the monumental altar of Santo Spirito, executed between 1599 and 1607 for the Michelozzi family. The workshop records of the famous master Urbano Ferruci describe such 'vasi a commesso in fondo di paragone' (vases inlaid on a ground of black marble).
Related cabinets include one at the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (A.M. Gusti, Pietre Dure, London, 1992, pp. 61 and 68).

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