Knight Fine Antiques and Collectables has dated this Italian Baroque Inlaid Commode to the 1700s.
On the basis of its quality, rarity, construction, decoration and the comparative evidence identified during our research, we consider it among the most significant North Italian commodes of this period to appear on the market in recent years.
Of breakfront form with projecting canted corners, the rounded overhanging top is constructed in walnut with exceptional areas of richly figured burr walnut, framed by rosewood crossbanding, and centred with floral marquetry enclosed by inlaid borders. The same rosewood crossbanding continues around the sides, with further floral inlaid centrepieces set against walnut and burr walnut veneers.
Each drawer is individually decorated with floral ivory and pewter inlay and fitted with Foggini-designed ormolu handles and ormolu key escutcheons. The canted corners are inlaid from top to bottom with finely engraved dogs, hounds, birds and scrolling foliage, culminating in a lion within the frieze above each corner.
Rarity, Research & Attribution
We have undertaken extensive research into this commode, consulting leading Italian furniture specialists, international dealers, authors and historians, and comparing it with documented examples in museums, former Medici residences, private collections and the international art market.
Although Florentine in manufacture, the ivory and pewter decoration is executed in the Venetian manner, combining eastern flowing floral and foliate ornament with Western figurative subjects including lions, dogs, hounds and birds, reflecting Venice’s historic position as a major trading port between East and West.
A particularly significant comparison appears in Professor Colle’s work on the Palazzo Pitti, where a Grand Ducal Workshop commode has one of the closest related carcass forms identified during our research. Its bronze handles are also remarkably close to those on the present commode and relate to designs by Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652–1725), Grand Ducal Sculptor to the Medici court.
A further closely related commode survives at Villa La Quiete, another former Medici residence, and is associated with the same Florentine court workshop tradition. The closest documented comparisons presently identified therefore come from furniture connected with the Medici court and Grand Ducal Workshops.
On the balance of the evidence, we attribute the commode to the Grand Ducal Workshops or to a leading Florentine master workshop working directly within the Medici court sphere. The Palazzo Pitti and Villa La Quiete comparisons, Foggini-designed mounts, exceptional workmanship and unusual inlay strongly support this attribution. No surviving document has yet been identified directly linking this specific commode to a recorded Medici commission or named Grand Ducal cabinetmaker, so the attribution remains based on the strongest available comparative evidence rather than a conclusively documented workshop identification.
Research into the commode is continuing, as we believe its exceptional quality and unusual decoration warrant further investigation.
(Please Note: this is a shortened description - please contact us for the full length description of this commode)
Ivory Reference: HJ5J96CX
Knight Fine Antiques and Collectables has dated this Italian Baroque Inlaid Commode to the 1700s.
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Important Italian Baroque Commode Attributed Grand Ducal Workshops, C.1690–1720
