George IV Storage Cabinet Mahogany Great Britain XIX Century

18th Century / 1701 - 1800

Sideboard with a semi-circular front. Supported by four truncated pyramid shaped uprights with vase-shaped feet, it has a narrow under the top drawer in the middle part, while there are two more thin drawers on the sides, under which there are two larger service drawers, on the corners there are two decorated doors that imitate the front of the drawers. Mahogany with mahogany feather banded veneer in the front, with maple and ebony threading, a carved maple reserve decorates the uprights; the drawers and the doors are enriched with an ebony thread on the edges, as well as the border of the mahogany head of the top; the top is a single mahogany board. The handles are gilded bronze pendants with a central rosette. On the back of the top there are inserts for the fastening of the brass beams that were supposed to hold the lights and other service equipment.

Tuscany, England Mid 19th century

Circular top in various essences of marble, with polychrome checkerboard in the center; the marble is framed in a rosewood support, supported by a central turned baluster resting on three shaped and fluted feet.

18th Century / 1701 - 1800

Venetian baroque console supported by wavy legs, the apron on the front and sides is carved with characteristic rocaille motifs. In walnut, the shaped top is in alabaster with a border in black marble and white Botticino.

Piacenza, Late XVIII Century

Pair of chests of drawers with walnut veneer, walnut root and bois de rose, maple and boxwood trim; inlaid rosettes with shading on tops, sides and fronts with three drawers. Retractable chain that allows the continuity of the inlay. Interior in fir and original locks. One seatback has been replaced.

Italy Last quarter of the 18th century

Lombard neoclassical chest of drawers veneered in briar walnut with borders in bois de rose and violets, Italy, last quarter of the 18th century. On the front, the three drawers as well as the sides are framed by a relief frame, highlighted by the uprights where the pilasters have a third order of projection that outlines the architectural character of the piece of furniture. On the sides as on the frote, thanks to the flush drawers with retractable chain, we find reserves in walnut briar inlaid in boxwood and maple, with floral and phytomorphic motifs arranged circularly and vase elements. On the frames of the reserves are Greek inlaid with successive leaves and on the uprights motifs with sloping discs. Feet in a jar. Top in Bardiglio gray marble replaced, restorations. The piece of furniture presents in the taste of the inlay and in the arrangement of the same, different points of contact with the work of Mortarino both in the furniture attributed to him and in the certain ones; to this example the inlaid motifs on the uprights are reflected in the side borders of the two Mantuan dressers. See Enrico Sala, Maggiolini & Co.

Winter Landscape with Figures on Ice

Oil painting on canvas. Flemish school of the XVII-XVIII century. On the frame there is a label attributing to Thomas Heeremans (but with incorrect date). The large scene offers a winter landscape appropriate to the Dutch territory, as it is characterized by a frozen canal, near a village, populated by numerous figures of skaters, intent on daily activities: the horse-drawn sleigh for transporting people, the the man who pushes the "wheelbarrow" full of wood, the child who pushes himself into his little box; other figures pass by on the embankment along the canal. The gray and cold sky of a winter day hangs over everything. The subject was the recurring one in the production of the Dutch painter Thomas Heeremans, who mainly painted winter landscapes of his land, replicating them several times due to the success obtained, and inducing numerous other artists to imitate him; it is therefore thought that this work can be traced back to an imitator of the Heeremans, rather than to him directly. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

The Tale of Apollo and Marsyas

Oil painting on canvas. Northern Italian school of the seventeenth century. The large canvas derives from an engraving of 1562 by the Venetian Giulio Sanuto, who faithfully reproduced the homonymous work by Bronzino (1503-1572), currently preserved in the Hermitage; compared to the original, the engraving added the group of Muses and modified the landscape background by introducing views of the villages. The work is divided into four scenes, which must be read from right to left. The first scene depicts the musical contest between Apollo and the Silenus Marsyas, who played the flute so well that he was considered superior to the same god; the two contenders are performing, the god with the lyre and the silenus with the flute even upside down (to increase the difficulty of the undertaking), in front of King Midas and the goddess Minerva, recognizable by her attributes, the helmet, the spear and the shield. In the second scene Apollo is intent on skinning Marsyas, to punish him for having won the musical contest; lean on the ground next to him, his cloak and lyre. In the third scene, it is King Midas who is punished by the god for having preferred Marsyas to him: Apollo is putting the donkey's ears on Midas, while Minerva is watching. Finally, the fourth scene, in the foreground on the left, is characterized by a particular figure, identified in the faithful servant and barber of the king: since Midas had ordered him to keep the secret on his donkey ears, not being able to let off steam otherwise, he dug a hole in the ground and yelled into there his secret; in that place, however, legend has it that a bush of reeds grew that with the wind whispered "King midas has donkey ears", thus revealing the dreaded secret. The painting has been previously restored and relined, but currently needs any further color recovery. On the back in pencil there is an old attribution to the Ferrara school ("Ercole da Ferrara"). It is presented in a late 19th century style frame.