Bergamo
Early 18th century
Description:
Pair of kneelers, built with a trapezoidal base shape that tightens towards the wall. They are supported by carved feet, on which rests a base with an opening top. The two shaped sides support a storage compartment with an openable top, decorated in the lower part with a carved lambrecchino motif.
In walnut, with maple threads, the kneelers are painted with the “aquetta” technique, with hilly and river landscapes, with small rural centers, with huts, towers and bell towers that rise in height.
Dimensions: 87 x 53,5 x 47 cm ( 34,2 x 21 x 18,5 in )
Historical-stylistic analysis:
Our pair of kneelers belongs to the production of a workshop active in the Bergamo area, as evidenced by the punctual comparisons possible with a group of very similar furniture, active between the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is a workshop specializing in painted furniture that stands out from the more well-known workshops of inlayers and carvers.
The technique used, in this case, for the pictorial parts, called “aquetta”, is very similar to watercolor, thus allowing a greater penetration of colors into the wood. The result is a brilliant, but at the same time almost veiled, yield, especially in the green of the tree species and in the blue of the sky and water, which allows the underlying color of the wood essence to emerge.
For more information on the Bergamo workshop and its production, see the article (link).
Comparison Bibliography:
– Clelia Alberci, Il mobile lombardo, Milano, Görlich, 1969, pp. 63, 99;
– Musei e Gallerie di Milano. Museo d’Arti Applicate, mobili e intagli lignei, a cura di Enrico Colle, Milano, Electa, 1996, pp. 61-63, cat. nn. 46, 47.Â
- Pair of kneelers, Bergamo, Early 18th century
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