Description:
Architectural cabinet, consisting of a chest of drawers with a drop-down door topped by a two-door upper section. The front of the chest of drawers is shaped with a serpentine front and features three drawers, above which a molding defines a band leading to the drop-down door that houses the supports for the flap and three smaller drawers. The flap conceals an undulating interior with nine small drawers and letter compartments. The upper section has two doors with mirrors, framed with a broken pediment in the “Buontalenti” style, from which an articulated cornice emerges, embellished by a central reserve featuring a third shaped mirror. The mirrors, made with mercury, are beveled at the edges. Inside the upper section, there is a central door, small drawers, and letter compartments. The sides flare outward toward the wall, and are enhanced by the architectural pilasters from the front, repeated halfway against the wall.
The entire surface is veneered in walnut burl with inlaid ribbons in poplar burl, bordered by a tin fillet. The interiors, made of walnut, are veneered in walnut burl. All the moldings are made of fluted walnut wood, cut on the end grain. The architectural uprights feature carved and gilded bases and capitals, while the front pilasters are adorned with carved and gilded masks that follow the movement of the band. The hardware is original, with locks made of steel with brass coating, and the typical “olive” hinges are also made of brass. The handles are made of finely chiseled bronze, mercury-gilded. Walnut interiors. Feet have been replaced.
Dimensions: 259 x 135 x 58 cm
CODE: ANMORI0252940
Historical Stylistic Analysis:
The piece of furniture presented here is one of the masterpieces of Genoese cabinet-making from the early 18th century. During this period, the city was heavily influenced by English models, both in decoration and furniture types. The “bureau with mirrored shelves,” as described in inventories, is an Anglo-Saxon piece not found in Parisian designs, likely introduced to Genoa through the city’s extensive maritime trade connections with England. In the 1740s and 1750s, these Queen Anne models gradually evolved into more curvaceous and rounded forms, influenced by French rococo, culminating in the Barocchetto style that made Genoese cabinet-making famous. These pieces were characterized by great elegance, veneered with exotic woods such as bois de violette and rosewood.
In this case, we are still in the early decades of the century, with a rather rare type of furniture. The English model is influenced by Italian Baroque, as evident from the curves and the carved masks placed above the architectural pilasters. For the wood veneer, beautiful local burls were chosen, such as walnut and poplar, rather than foreign woods. After all, walnut burl was one of the preferred woods in England. The ribbon decoration, the construction of the interiors, and the hardware are further derivations from the Anglo-Saxon world. The keyholes and handles are made of bronze and defined by fine chiseling, which gains strength with the thick gilding polished in the smooth areas.
Lodovico Caumont Caimi, who is the key reference for studying these pieces, published a group of furniture evidently produced by the same workshop. The first is a bureau with a clock case; this piece has a similar shape to ours, although less intricate, and is also veneered in burl with dark wood inlays held by tin fillets. The ribbon decoration on the doors is identical. The same ribbon design can be found on the front of a trumeau, which differs on the sides as they are less complex than those of the piece under examination. The hardware matches that of another piece with this type of ribbon, a chest of drawers. Unfortunately, to this day, we do not know the name of the cabinetmaker who crafted these pieces, but we can certainly affirm that the trumeau in question belongs to the same production, standing out as one of the most successful examples, particularly for its original architectural solution in the cornice.
Bibliography:
 • Lodovico Caumont Caimi, L’ebanisteria genovese del settecento, ed. P.P.S. 1995
• Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios, Il mobile in Liguria, ed. Sagep, Genova 1996
• Giuseppe Morazzoni, Il mobile Genovese, ed. Luigi alfieri Milano, 1949
- Trumeau Genoa, first quarter of the 18th century.
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