An Italian walnut, burr walnut and parcel-gilt bureau cabinet, Venetian mid 18th century

the upper section with an arched top surmounted by a pierced balustrade with a peacock  flanked by a tree, column and a stylised building surmounted by a pierced scroll, rocaille, flower and foliate carved cresting above a cartouche-shaped engraved mirror depicting a seated female in 18th century dress in a landscape representing Juno above a pair of mirrored doors opening to reveal a fitted interior   `scarabattolo' with a central door surrounded by twelve serpentine and bowed long drawers and sixteen short drawers with herringbone parquetry banding, the pigeon holes with pierced rocaille and scrolled mouldings above three frieze drawers and two candleslides, the splayed sides with a mirrored door in each side revealing two drawers and pigeon holes above five further narrow drawers, the lower section with a serpentine fall-front with a removeable fitted interior revealing secret drawers and a slide revealing a recess and two further secret drawers, the interior with a door flanked by six long and six short drawers above three serpentine and bowed long drawers with drop handles, with pierced rocaille giltwood clasps at the top and base of the stiles and splayed concave sides on bracket feet, with  pierced carved giltwood cartouches with acanthus, rocaille and foliage

Formerly in the Emanuele and Franco Subert Collection, Milan, Italy.
Private European Collection.

Illustrated G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Veneziano del '700, Milan, 1958, Vol. II, Tav. CCCLXXII and CCCLXXIII.

In overall excellent original condition.The patina is good. Old very minor restorations to carved giltwood elements on the cresting which are hardly noticeable, some of which have been strengthened at the back.There are some minor restored cracks generally which have been well executed. There is a horizontal construction crack running partially across the cresting as visible in the photograph which can easily be filled and there are other scattered age and hairline construction cracks which are commensurate with age and are hardly noticeable. The handles on the short drawers in the upper section appear to have possibly been repositioned. In the lower section inside the fall-front, when the slide is pushed back, it reveals two recesses where there were previously two drawers. There are some very minor chips to the giltwood carving on the lower section. Please note this is 312cm high and not as stated in the catalogue.
"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:
Giuseppe Morazzoni, Mobili Veneziani del’700, Milan, MCMXXVII, plates CLXXXVI, CLXXXVII.
G. Morrazoni, Il Mobile Veneziano del’700, Milan,1958, Tav. CCCLXVIII and Tav. CCCLXIX.
Clara Santini, Mille Mobili Veneti, L’arredo domestico in Veneto dal sec. XV al sec. XIX, Venezia, Modena, MMII, pp. 73, plate 84, p. 75, plate 87, p. 76, plate 88.

This imposing bureau cabinet of supremely elegant proportions and gentle serpentine form in finely figured walnut with delicately carved elements highlighted in parcel-gilt in imitation of gilt-bronze mounts, with flared concave mirrored sides represents the apogee of Venetian craftsmanship in the middle years of the 18^th century. The viewer would have been dazzled by the sheer magnificence of this most emblematic  of Venetian  18^th century trumeau. The superlative quality of its execution make the present bureau-cabinet one of the best surviving examples of the Venetian repertory. Unfortunately, due to lack of documentary evidence, very few names of cabinet-makers, carvers and gilders survive, to enable an attribution to a particular maker to be made.

These trumeau as they were known (from the French mirror which used to stand between two windows), very soon became the pre-eminent piece of furniture in the palazzos of the Venetian aristocracy and wealthy merchants. Although they were meant to cut a bella figura on the best wall of a salon, these pieces were supposed to be functional too, as on the present example where there is an elaborate `scarabattolo'- the inside of the upper section, fall-front and even the side doors are fitted with various pigeon-holes, drawers and cupboards and there are numerous secret drawers. While the bureaux-cabinets commissioned  for the surburban villas were often lacquered or decorated in arte povera to simulate lacquer, the finest examples of which are found in the most important palazzos of the lagoon were of serpentine form veneered in burr walnut which was highlighted with parcel-gilt carved elements and were mounted with an engraved mirrors, so typical of Venetian production, as on the present example. As a large proportion of Venetian furniture was on a small scale apart from mirrors and several large-scale bureau cabinets veneered in plain walnut are recorded, but very few survive with their gilded elements intact as on the present example. Moreover, the gilded elements depicting a building and balustrade on this bureau are reminiscent of the capriccio found on Venetian mirrors of this date.  

It is interesting to note that bureau cabinets on a similar scale and of the same exceptional quality as the offered example, were formerly in leading Italian collections, such as those illustrated by Morazzoni, op. cit., plates, CLXXXVI (sig. Ing. G. Gatti-Casazza) and CLXXXVII (conte L. Hierschel De Minerbi).  Furthermore, Morazzoni, op. cit., (1958 edition), illustrates in Tav. CCLXVIII, a related bureau cabinet with parcel- gilt elements which is of similar form to this bureau cabinet which is now in the Museum Ca’Rezzonico, in Venice and another one more similar to the offered example, as the sides have mirrored doors, in Tav. CCCLXIX, (formerly in the collection of Tullio Silva).

Related large walnut bureau cabinets some with parcel-gilt elements sold at auction include:
-lot 125, sold in these Rooms, for a world record price, on 13^th December 1996  (£540,000).
-lot 543, sold Sotheby’s Milan, 18^th December 2001 (740,000,000Lire). It had an elaborate parcel-gilt cresting and flared mirrored sides as on the offered example.
- one sold in an Italian auction on 27^th April 2004 for 280,000E.
- lot 116, The Splendours of Venice, sold in these Rooms, 6^th July 2010, (£217,250), although entirely in walnut with a single mirrored door and flared sides.
-lot 70, sold in these Rooms, from the Collection of Giovanni and Gabriella Barilla, 14^th March 2012,(£265,250), of similar form, but on a smaller scale and solely in walnut with no parcel-gilt elements.