Offered by Galleria Sinigaglia
Furniture, paintings, sculptures and objects from the 18th and 19th centuries.
This exceptional pair of 18th century Italian neoclassical dressers in wood richly inlaid on the front, sides and 4 truncated pyramid legs are a high quality example of 18th century Italian cabinet making. The pair of commodes is an original from the second part of the 18th century (1780).
The front of the pair of dressers is divided into three levels of drawers, two thinner ones at the top and bottom and a thicker central one. This arrangement makes the front of the pair of drawers even more elegant.
On the front of the central drawer there is a large oval with two mirror-image neoclassical figures represented. Rich and complex foliate motifs start from the oval and extend gracefully across the entire surface. Corresponding to the upper and lower drawers, both frontally and laterally, runs a band with inlays depicting classic style garlands with ribbons, cameos and phytomorphic elements. On the side, within geometric figures created through the combination of various wood essences, there are other garlands and recurring elements in the inlays of the neoclassical period.
The pillars are also inlaid with floral and leaf decorations. The four truncated pyramid legs are also inlaid.
These 18th century Italian chests of drawers were exhibited at the Triennale Museum in Milan on the occasion of the exhibition "Il Salone, la città", which took place in conjunction with the "Salone del Mobile" in Milan. We have all the documentation attesting to this museum exhibition.
The dressers are entirely inlaid with the use of different wood essences. The inlaid surfaces have also been pyrographed and burnished and are in excellent condition. This very refined technique allows you to create greater definition of the decorations, giving three-dimensionality and chiaroscuro to the drawings. With a dark background, the elegant inlays create neoclassical designs inspired by the taste of the time and the famous furniture of the Lombard cabinetmaker Giuseppe Maggiolini di Parabiago, who brought the inlay technique applied to neoclassical furniture to the highest levels.
The marble piano is contemporary. The handles and mouthpieces of the locks, also original, are in gilded bronze.
The neoclassical furniture of the eighteenth century
The last quarter of the eighteenth century coincides with the affirmation of the neoclassical taste, in opposition to the previous rococo or baroque style, particularly widespread and appreciated in Lombardy. An echo of this transition is visible in Maggiolini's first works, namely rounded chests of drawers with high carved legs and chinoiserie decorations.
Soon, however, the typology of Maggiolini's furniture became clear: sober and elegant furnishings, a shape dominated by rigid geometries, with lateral bands and upper and lower chains that define the elevations; the surfaces are large and smooth, with vegetal friezes or geometric ornaments to enclose the medallions at the center of the surfaces, containing refined classical allegories or mythological characters. The leg is tapered and shaped like a truncated pyramid.
Milan Triennial
This pair of chests of drawers was exhibited at the Triennale Museum of Milan on the occasion of the exhibition il Salone / la Città, a project conceived by the Museum of Italian Design of Triennale Milan for the Salone del Mobile. Milan. From 4 to 12 September
2021.
At the following link you can view the website of the Triennale museum: https://triennale.org
Authenticity
This pair of chests of drawers has already been exhibited at
important international antiques exhibitions such as Modenantiquaria where each object can be exhibited after passing a careful examination of integrity and quality suited to the exhibition. This examination is conducted by a team of experts called the Commission. Furthermore, from the images below of the bottom and back it is possible to ascertain the integrity of the ancient eighteenth-century wood.