A fine pair of North Italian neoclassical kingwood and tulipwood parquetry commodes circa 1805, in the manner of Giuseppe Maggiolini

each with a rectangular green marble top above a frieze drawer veneered to form entrelacs and a deep central drawer veneered to form a quiver of arrows flanked by bows and scrolling foliate rinceaux enclosing flowerheads, the lower part with a drawer veneered to match the frieze, the corners with leaf-carved scrolls, the sides veneered to match the front, raised on square tapered legs. 



One commode with an ink inscription: "Carlo Antonio Falg ...".

Maurice Segoura, Paris

Acquired from the above, 1986

These commodes are inspired by the work of the influential Milanese cabinet-maker Giuseppe Maggiolini.  Their design is based upon drawings by the Bottega Maggiolini conserved in the Fondo dei Disegni in the Civiche Raccolte d'Arte, Milan (see L. Caumont Caimi, L'Ebanisteria Genovese del Settecento, Parma, 1995, pp. 252-255).  These designs were also the inspiration for a commode in the château de Malmaison, historically attributed to Maggiolini, and virtually identical except for slight differences in the treatment of the central trophy.

As the taste for neoclassical furniture evolved in Europe during the third quarter of the 18th century, Giuseppe Maggiolini was instrumental in popularising it amongst the aristocracy and fashionable members of Milanese society for whom he executed commissions of extremely high quality.  This new style was also embraced by the wealthy upper classes.  A measure of the importance and influence of Maggiolini's work is evidenced by the fact that it was copied not only in his native Milan, but also elsewhere in Italy; notably in Genoa and Rome.  Indeed, the fact that his designs were so influential and imitated in the 18th century, frequently makes it very difficult to distinguish between pieces made in Lombardy, in Genoa or in Rome.  For example, one of Maggiolini's contemporaries, Francesco Abbiati, although from Lombardy,  worked mainly in Rome and in Madrid; he was almost certainly influenced by Maggiolini, as seen in a commode of similar design and size, sold, Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1998, lot 58.