Offered by Franck Baptiste Provence
Rare cabinet in ebony veneer and blackened wood of rectangular shape with a slight central projection.
It opens with ten drawers on five rows and a central niche.
The bottom row opens with a large drawer simulating three.
Each drawer is framed with guilloche baguettes and centered with a decoration of vine leaves in gilded bronze finished with fruits in multi-colored hard stones.
These stones of different varieties such as carnelian, rock crystal, aventurine or agate are cut into balls or pears.
On each drawer a small bronze bust of an emperor serves as a grip.
The two doors of the niche receive the same decoration except for the olive leaf which replaces the vine.
The small niche reveals nine small drawers in ebony veneer and ivory fillets separated by a small central compartment decorated with a mercury mirror.
The drawer bottoms are made of walnut, the back is made of oak and the frame is made of softwood.
Trace of the preparatory drawing of the bronze ornaments on the back of the drawer bottoms.
Stamp of ownership with a coat of arms affixed with red wax in the compartment of the central niche.
Very good state of conservation, small losses and restorations of use.
Italy, lapidary workshop in Florence, early 18th century around 1720-1730.
Dimensions:
Width: 71 cm; Height: 58 cm; Depth: 37 cm
Probably in suite with the jewelry box that we are presenting.
Our opinion:
The precious cabinet that we are presenting is characteristic of the work of Florentine lapidary artisans who worked semi-precious stones to make paintings, trays and some small pieces of furniture.
The origin of this craft is the establishment of the grand ducal workshops by Ferdinando I de Medici (1549-1588) who inaugurated in 1588 his "galleria dei Lavori" which would become in the 19th century "the office of hard stones of Florence".
If the 17th century remains the golden age of the technique with an exclusively princely production, generations of craftsmen will then succeed one another to offer luxurious goods to the European nobility who came to Italy to make the grand tour.
Our cabinet is characteristic of this production, with two true symbols of the Tuscan countryside that are the vine and the olive tree and with small busts of emperors that symbolize the glory of ancient Rome or even hard stones, true symbols of the Florentine renaissance.
It is obvious that this type of cabinet with an exorbitant price was not designed to be used but more to adorn the magnificent cabinets and other "studiolos" of the great nobility.
Due to their high price and fragility, few of these pieces have reached us.
Our cabinet, which is presented in very good condition, is in our time a piece of the most extreme rarity, especially since it is accompanied by a jewelry box from the same workshop.
