A pair of Italian giltwood armchairs, Parma Louis XV, mid 18th century

each with a cartouche shaped padded back above downscrolled padded arms and serpentine padded seat on cabriole legs terminating in scrolled feet, the frame carved with flowers and leaves, upholstered  in associated Genoese velvet; the underside of the frames with partially erased inventory marks of the Ducal collections from the Palazzo Ducale di Colorno, Parma

Palazzo Ducale, Colorno, Parma
Appartamento del Maggiordomo, Palazzo Ducale, Colorno, inventoried in 1856 and 1861
Palazzo Reale, Genoa, from 13^th September 1862
Severino Crosa (1897-1979), the Genoese merchant and art-connoisseur, in his bedroom in Palazzo Saluzzo Granello before 1962
Sold Pandolfini, Florence,1st-4th October 1979, lot 387
Oraziono Bagnasco Collection, Milan
Private Collection, Milan

 

 

Lelio Canonero Barocchetto Genovese, 1962,Tav. LV, illustrated.
Edi Baccheschi, Mobili Genovesi, 1962, Milan, illustrated on the cover.
Giacomo Wannenes, Mobili d'Italia, 1984, Milan, tav. XXXVII.
Alvar González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto. La Toscana e l'Italia Settentrionale, 1986, Milan, plate 463, illustrated.
Alvar González-Palacios, Il Patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, Gli arredi Francesi, Milan, 1995, p. 47, plate 40, illustrated.

In overall good conserved condition. Most attractive model with very nice detail to the carving.Colour of gilding more golden and attractive than in the catalogue photograph. Joints sound and sturdy. Old very minor marks and chips commensurate with age and normal usage and the gilding is in the main in very good order with some very minor losses to the gilding which can easily be touched up. There is a small hole drilled in each side of the side-rail of the backs which can easily be filled. There is an old very minor restoration to the top-rail of one.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Erminia Gentile Ortona, Arredi Italiani a Theran, in Antologia delle Belle Arti, 1998  figs. 55-58, pp. 80-85.
Giuseppe Bertini, Arredi dei Palazzi Ducali di Parma e Colorno inviati a Genova, in Antologia di Belle Arti, 2003,  figs. 63-66, pp. 67-72.
Alvar González-Palacios, Il Patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, Gli arredi Francesi, Milan,1995, p.14 and 47, plate 38.
Enrico Colle, Gli inventari delle Corti, le guardarobe reali in Italia dal XVI al XX secolo, Florence, 2004, pp. 213, 215, 222.

We thank Count Ludovico Caumont Caimi and Dott. Giuseppe Bertini for assisting in the compilation of the present footnote.   

This very elegant pair of armchairs were certainly made for the court of Louis XV's daughter, Louise-Elisabeth (1727-1759), Duchess of Parma. Although clearly made in the Louis XV style, they have either been made by French artisans working in Parma, such as Yon and Vibert or by Parmese artisans imitating French models. In the earlier literature, the armchairs were erroneously catalogued as Genoese.

Chairs of this type appear in the contemporary paintings depicting the court of Louis-Elisabeth and her husband, the Infant of Spain, Don Philippe, Duke of Parma. See for example a painting by Giuseppe Baldrighi (1723-1803), of the Duke and Duchess of Parma and their children, Isabella, Ferdinando and Luisa and the Marchesa Gonzalez, circa 1757 (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Parma), illustrated by A. González-Palacios, op. cit., p. 14, (see fig. 1).

These armchairs retain much of their French influence in their subtlety of outline, delicacy of the carving and harmonious proportions. The backs upholstered `à chassis' and the drop-in seats are derived from French prototypes, wherein menuisiers developed this device to facilitate the changing of upholstery with the seasons. See Alvar González-Palacios, op. cit., p. 47, plate 38, for a related armchair of similar outline and carving, with the mark of the Casa Reale di Parma, circa 1760, now in the Palazzo Reale, Genoa ( see post). 
The Court of Louise–Elisabeth, Duchess of Parma:
Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon (1727-1759), the eldest daughter of Louis XV, married the Infant of Spain Don Philippe, Duke of Parma, in 1739. They took possession of their new Duchy of Parma in 1748. The Ducal Palace in Parma and the summer residence of Colorno had been emptied of furnishings by the last Duke of Farnese. The establishment of their elegant and sophisticated court in Parma necessitated the refurbishment of both residencies in the Parisian style and Madame Infante imported the French taste to Italy through numerous purchases from Paris. She returned to France in 1748, 1753 and 1759, undertaking long stays with her father. It is in those years that these armchairs were made in no small part influenced by the French furniture which she had purchased in Paris.

The Palazzo di Colorno:
The Ducal Palace, also known as Reggia di Colorno, is in the province of  Parma in Emilia Romagna, Italy. It was built by Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma in the early 18th century on the remains of a former castle. In the 18th century, Duke Philippe married Princess Louise Elisabeth of France and commissioned its restoration by the French architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, and tried to emulate in the interior the decor of the Palace of Versailles. On November 28, 1807, after the annexation of the Duchy of Parma to the French Empire, the palace was declared "imperial property" and new restoration works were started. After the Congress of Vienna, the duchy went to Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife, who made the Reggia her favourite residence and created an English-style garden.

Severino Crosa (1897-1979):
He was a Genoese merchant and art-connoisseur, and these chairs are seen in a photograph of his bedroom in Palazzo Saluzzo Granello pre-1962. He bought the Palazzo in 1956. Crosa erroneously believed these armchairs were Genoese, perhaps in ignorance of the provenance marks from the ducal collections in Parma. On the other hand designs for Genoese armchairs heavily borrowed from the French repertory.

A note from Dott. Giuseppe Bertini, written on 25^th May 2012:  

The present pair of armchairs unquestionably came from the Palazzo Ducale of Colorno, Parma, as indicated by the inscription in black ink C 959 on  the seat-rails. The same number, with the marque au fer C, is then repeated and it has been covered with a white paint.This number corresponds to two armchairs inventoried at the times of the Bourbons in 1856:

 "Due seggiole a braccia centinate, intagliate, piedi a cerva e indorate, coperte nel sedile, nello schienale e nei bracciali di lampasso giallo a fiori bianchi". In 1856, so more than a century after the death of Louis-Elisabeth, Duchess of Parma, they were located in a generic Appartamento del Maggiordomo, which was probably at the piano nobile, on the side of the palace opposite to the main entrance. The very same armchairs (with the entry number of inventory 1949) can be traced again in the 1861 inventory, drawn under the House of Savoy. They were still in the same room (n.39). The 1949 number in blue ink would have appeared on a paper label with a blue border which has now been lost.

In that same room, as per the 1856 and 1861 inventories, similar chairs were recorded. Notably: ' una seggiola a bracci (respectively under the mumbers 958 and 1948) , four "seggiolone non a braccia analoghe alle suddette" (n. 960 and   n. 1950) and two "sgabelli da sedere quadrilunghi, intagliati, piedi a cerva e indorate, coperte nel sedile, nello schienale e nei bracciali di lampasso giallo a fiori bianchi" (n. 961 and n.1951).

In 1862, the dismantling of the Colorno Ducal residence began. The abovementioned seat furniture was sent to the Royal Palace of Genoa,on the 13th September 1862, according to a document drawn up the day before by a custodian of the Reggia. This document is preserved in the State Archives in Parma. Some of these seats are still today in the rooms of the Palazzo Reale in Genoa or in the deposit rooms. The two sgabelli quadrilunghi are in the Italian Embassy of Teheran from 1953 and they bear labels inscribed Real Casa Genova.