A North Italian gilt-bronze mounted and engraved ebony, ebonised, ivory and marquetry cabinet, Milan, by Ferdinando Pogliani circa 1870

C.Payne, 19th Century Furniture, Woodbridge, 1984, p. 437, fig. 1294.

In overall good condition, the inlays and ebonised and ebony wood with several hairline cracks, right top moulding slightly loose, top right side moulding with small wood crack, left short drawer with minor ivory inlay loss (behind drawer handle), left middle side with small wood loss, gilt-bronze strips with minor losses and occasionally slightly loose, right front foot with lacking gilt-bronze ornamental ring and with minor wood loss.
"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."

By the time the Unification of Italy was achieved in 1870, Italian designers were looking back for inspiration to the luxuriously inlaid furniture of the Renaissance. In the 1860's and 70's, Italian craftsmen such as Ferdinando Pogliani of Milan and Giovanni Battista Gatti produced inlaid furniture conceived in a similar vein to the offered cabinet.

Ferdinando Pogliani (active 1860's and 1870's) worked with his sons Paolo and Carlo in his workshop in Borgo di Porta, Vittoria N.81, Milan. Later he had a showroom in the elegant Via Monte Napoleone and won prizes in several leading Exhibitions and he became one of the cities leading cabinet-makers and his entry in the encyclopaedic history of Milan reads; ...`much sought after and very expensive is ivory and ebony inlaid furniture. In this field Pogliani excels with his perfect technique which was very much admired at the exhibition in 1881.'

He specialised in the manufacture of large architecturally inspired pieces of furniture made from ebony inlaid with ivory, tortoiseshell and pietre dure with gilt-mounts. The subject matter included amorini, flowers and mythological subjects and animals.