A NORTH ITALIAN BLUE-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT JARDINIERE

The finely detailed naturalistic carving on the panels of this elegant jardinière relate it to to the circle of cabinet-makers in Turin patronized by the royal family. The most celebrated among them was Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (1745-1820) who was appointed sculptor to the Royal court of Turin in 1787 by Vittorio Amedeo III. While under his patronage, Bonzanigo as well as other skilled craftsmen and intagliatori such as Francesco Tanadei, Giuseppe Marchino, Francesco Novaro and Francesco Bolgii worked on numerous royal commissions for the residences of Stupinigi, Moncalieri, Venaria, Rivoli and most of all the Royal Palace in Turin. Paneling and a commode with related scrolling foliate panels in the apartments of the Duchess D'Aosta, Palazzo Reale, Turin, is illustrated in G. Ferraris, Guiseppe Maria Bonzanigo,, Turin, 1991, p.110.