Adrian Alan
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An Important Marquetry Inlaid Centre Table ( 1840 )
| Artists: |
LUIGI & ANGIOLO FALCINI (1794-1861) |
| Medium: | Marquetry Inlay |
| Dimensions: | 122.00cm wide 85.00cm high 82.00cm deep (48.03 inches wide 33.46 inches high 32.28 inches deep) |
| Description: |
An Important Marquetry Inlaid Centre Table Attributed to Falcini, richly decorated in Ivory and Precious Woods with Flowers, Birds, Butterflies and Masks. The frieze with a drawer. This table is a fine example of the detailed naturalistic marquetry popularised by the Florentine Falcini brothers Luigi and Angiolo (fl. 1836-69) in the second quarter of the 19th century and is almost certainly attributable to them. A feature of their work was scrolling foliage and wreaths inlaid in mother-of-pearl and ivory and also fruitwood on an ivory ground. The treatment of the flowers is also typical of the work of the Falcini brothers. Luigi (1794 - 1861) and Angiolo (1801 - 1850) Falcini were the sons of a cabinet maker from Campi, a small village near Florence. They went to Florence in the 1820's, a city famous for its intarsia workshops since the Renaissance, and opened up workshops in via delle Fosse and via Rosa. The first piece to be exhibited by the Falcini brothers was a prize-winning marquetry table shown at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence in 1834 - 1836, for which they received a medal. It was subsequently purchased by Grand Duke Leopold II for his private collection. In the following years Luigi and Angiolo, exhibited in many exhibitions of the Accademia as well as the Florence exhibitions of 1854 and 1861, the 1851 London Exhibition, the 1853 New York Exhibition and the 1855 Paris Exhibition. Their high quality work was demanded by many important Italian and international collectors and they completed important commissions for a number of prominent patrons. Amongst which were Prince Demidoff for the Villa San Donato, Florence, the Duchess of Casigliano and Countess Borghesi. Luigi was also entrusted with the prestigious work of restoring the Renaissance doors of the Palazzo Vecchio and showed a strong interest in the contemporary cultural life of Florence. The intarsia work that the Falcini's produced was varied. In their earlier years it was more neo-classical and monochromatic. Later it became richer in colour and materials and more lively in design. They used a large quantity of different native woods like acer, box and olive. For the dark grounds of their furniture they chose imported wood like ebony, Indian walnut, and mahogany from Cuba and Jamaica. For the red shades in the marquetry they used red ebony, corallino delle Antille, Indian aloe and bois de violette from Gayas and Brazil. For yellow shades, legno di scotano, il sommaco di Sicilia, il priego di Spagna e di America and bois de citron were chosen. Calambaco del Messico was used for different shades of green. Other colours, like purple or light blue were reached by colouring woods by chemical means - a technique developed to perfection by the Falcini's. The use of multiple coloured woods plus other materials like mother of pearl, ivory, bone and sometimes even metal, derives from the Falcini's interest in the Baroque art produced at the last court of the Medici era. In particular they admired the work of Flemish-born Leonardo Van Der Vinne (d. 1713), who had played an active role in the Medici's Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Examples of their work can be found in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence, and museum collections worldwide. |
| Literature: |
Simone Chiarugi, 'Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana', Florence 1994, Vol I & II Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios, 'Il Tempio del Gusto, La toscana e l'Italia Settentrionale, Vol 1' Claudio Paolini, Alessandra Ponte, 'Ornella Selvafolte, Il Bello Ritrovato', Novara 1990, p.p. 226 |
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