17th Century Italian ebony casket mounted with Pietre Dure panels
ITALY, LATE 17th CENTURY
29 x 43 x 36 cm
11 ½ x 17 x 14 ¼ in
11 ½ x 17 x 14 ¼ in
7116
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Provenance
Collection of Elizabeth Parke Firestone, (1897–1990)Firestone family by descent until 2012.
With Galerie Sarti, Paris.
Private European Collection.
Literature
Galerie G. Sarti, Fasteux Objets en Marbre et Pierres Dures: Catalogue no 7, London, 2006, illustrated as a reference (not for sale) p. 38, fig. 26
The drawer and the interior accessed via spring locks, the interior lined with crimson velvet with a mirror on the underside of the lid. Complete with keys. Pietra dura’ or...
The drawer and the interior accessed via spring locks, the interior lined with crimson velvet with a mirror on the underside of the lid. Complete with keys.
Pietra dura’ or ‘pietre dure’, the so-called ‘Florentine brand’ dates from the late 16th century and consisted of a mosaic technique which used natural colours and precious stones, cut in sections and matched to form a larger image. ‘Stone painting’ was the term used to define Florentine mosaics, as artisans used the technique to represent a wide range of subjects. Flowers and plants were frequently depicted alongside fruit and birds. The motifs of birds and flowers used on this casket are typical of the Grand Ducal Workshops of Florence in the late 17th century. Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725) was director of the workshops under Duke Cosimo III (1670- 1723). A wide range of pietre dure-inlaid objects were made under his supervision.
Florentine Pietre Dure and the Galleria de’ Lavori: In 1588, Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany founded the Galleria de’ Lavori, the Medici grand-ducal hardstone workshop in Florence. The Grand Duke hired and trained local craftsmen to restore ancient carved-stone objects and to create original works in pietre dure, making pictures by setting together thin pieces of brightly coloured stones. During the 1600s, the Galleria worked primarily in Florence, concentrating on the decorations of the Medici family’s chapel in the church of San Lorenzo, begun in 1605. By the 1700s, pietre dure became increasingly fashionable, and artists trained in this workshop travelled all over Europe to work for other noble or royal households, with elaborate pieces being commissioned by the aristocracy and nobility of Europe, who then commissioned a custom-made piece of furniture to display their stonework. Pictorial pietre dure panels depicting flowers, fruit and birds, set on a background of black marble edged with yellow marble borders, were the favourite compositions for the Galleria de’ Lavori. Renamed the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in the mid-1800s, the workshop continues to operate today as a state-supported institution.
Pietra dura’ or ‘pietre dure’, the so-called ‘Florentine brand’ dates from the late 16th century and consisted of a mosaic technique which used natural colours and precious stones, cut in sections and matched to form a larger image. ‘Stone painting’ was the term used to define Florentine mosaics, as artisans used the technique to represent a wide range of subjects. Flowers and plants were frequently depicted alongside fruit and birds. The motifs of birds and flowers used on this casket are typical of the Grand Ducal Workshops of Florence in the late 17th century. Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725) was director of the workshops under Duke Cosimo III (1670- 1723). A wide range of pietre dure-inlaid objects were made under his supervision.
Florentine Pietre Dure and the Galleria de’ Lavori: In 1588, Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany founded the Galleria de’ Lavori, the Medici grand-ducal hardstone workshop in Florence. The Grand Duke hired and trained local craftsmen to restore ancient carved-stone objects and to create original works in pietre dure, making pictures by setting together thin pieces of brightly coloured stones. During the 1600s, the Galleria worked primarily in Florence, concentrating on the decorations of the Medici family’s chapel in the church of San Lorenzo, begun in 1605. By the 1700s, pietre dure became increasingly fashionable, and artists trained in this workshop travelled all over Europe to work for other noble or royal households, with elaborate pieces being commissioned by the aristocracy and nobility of Europe, who then commissioned a custom-made piece of furniture to display their stonework. Pictorial pietre dure panels depicting flowers, fruit and birds, set on a background of black marble edged with yellow marble borders, were the favourite compositions for the Galleria de’ Lavori. Renamed the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in the mid-1800s, the workshop continues to operate today as a state-supported institution.