Safe bench richly decorated with inlays – Florentine work

Solid walnut chest bench of Florentine origin with an original decoration of ivory and bone inlays on a background of walnut and sycamore marquetry.
Two caryatids are flanked on the two side uprights of the facade. In the center, a shield surrounded by arabesques separates two panels depicting the god Bacchus.
On the right, young Bacchus is shown holding a thyrsus in his hand surrounded by foliage and strips. Roman god of Vegetation and the Vine he is represented here mounted on a chariot drawn by two panthers, surrounded by a character playing the double flute and followed by another dancing with a cup of wine in hand.
On the left, he is shown riding a donkey, in a drunken state. Experiencing difficulty in standing on his mount, he is supported by fauns while two figures surround him playing a flute and drum.
The hinged trunk lid as well as the backsplash highlight a subtle play of marquetry and inlays where riders with spears, dogs, lion, wolf, birds, clouds, flowering trees animate various hunting scenes. The curved armrests receive an identical hunting decor.
The backsplash is topped with a pediment carved with scrolls and arabesques as well as in its center an apocryphal coat of arms illustrating the coat of arms of the Visconti family (the crowned serpent devouring a child).
This unique and very decorative piece of furniture rests on lion-headed legs topped with a large gadrooned crossbar.

Dimensions
L. 154 cm x D. 58 cm x H. 136 cm
Seat height: 60 cm

Italy – Florence
Walnut wood, sycamore and bone and ivory inlays
Partly from the 17th century (restorations and hinges replaced)

Did you know ?
The Thyrsus is essentially a pole of reed or soft wood crowned with leaves of ivy or vine sometimes tied with a ribbon or surmounted by a pine cone, an artichoke or a pomegranate, used during festivities and Hellenistic religious ceremonies.
In Greco-Roman mythology it is the main attribute of Dionysus or Bacchus, the Maenads and the Bacchae.
A sacred instrument, the Thyrsus is a symbol of prosperity, fertility and hedonism.