A rare pair of Italian chinoiserie silver two-light candelabra, Genoa, 1789

the cut-cornered rectangular beaded arched bases with seated female and male figures their face inclined, supporting a bell hung pagoda centred by a man and woman in Chinese and Indian style, two square and leaf capped branches, finial as a pipe-blowing satyr and a homo selvaticus, underside engraved with the initials FSC, town mark and date letter only 

Probably Francesco Saverio Cusani, Marchese di Chignolo (1729-1815)
The satyr model was exhibited for the first time in 1950, belonging to the collection of Ernesto and Jole Fassio Martelli, the celebrated Italian ship owner after the Second World War. The provenance of the other is unknown until both candelabra were re-united for the first time for the sale of
The Collection of Giuseppe Rossi, Sotheby's London, 10-12 March 1999, lot 1006.
Private Collection.

The satyr model: Mostra delle Argenterie Genovesi, Genoa, 1950.
Both:'Per Allumare’, Argenti per la luce del Settecento Genovese, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Genoa, March 2008.

The satyr model:
Giuseppe Morazzoni, Argenterie genovesi, Milan 1951, no. 206.
Cipriani, Argenti Italiania, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, 1959, no. 112, plate LXXXIX.
Both:
Franco Boggero, ‘Per Allumare’ Argenti per la luce del Settecento Genovese, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Genoa, 2008, ill. p. 34-49, fig. 4.2. and cover.

Each candelabra marked to the underside with combined town/date mark only - the first and last numbers of the date mark are partially distorted. The bases and arms of branches also with assay scrape. Each pagoda is missing one hanging bell (two in total). They are of excellent gauge and well cast. Both sit flat on an even surface. Very light surface scratches to the surfaces.
"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."

This pair of Genoese candelabra originally formed a three-piece suite including a silver lamp (fig.1). Over time, they became separated and were re-united for the 2008 exhibition in Genoa. They are considered to be unique pieces of Genoese chinoiserie silver.

The provenance of this three-piece suite has been recently discovered thanks to further research investigated by the owners of the lamp published in 2008 by Franco Boggero.¹ The initials on the three pieces are most probably those of Francesco Saverio Cusani (1729-1815), Marchese di Chignolo, ancestor of the owners of the lamp.

His father forged a successful military career under the order of Joseph I of Austria before Francesco was born in Hungary in 1729. Francesco’s early life was spent vagabonding between Austria, Germany and Flanders, until he made fortune and acquired the Palazzo Spinola Airoldi in 1772, via San Paolo in Milan. However, by 1791, his fortune had deteriorated and he retired in the village of Monza, where he remained until his death in 1815.

It has been suggested that Cusani may have commissioned this pair of candelabra, hallmarked for Genoa, 1789, in order to form a suite with the lamp, dated 1778, and offer them to his daughter Elisabetta on the occasion of her marriage, circa 1790.
Elisabetta married Andrea Lucini Passalacqua (?-1805), of the wealthy Brentano-Monticelli merchant family, who made their fortune in financial and loan operations in Genoa, Nuremberg and Vienna. Andrea’s cousin, Giovanni Pietro (1707-1778), inherited the successful family company alongside his brother Antonio, and was created count by Maria Teresa of Austria in 1749 as governor of Como and lieutenant of Lombardy.²
Andrea moved away from his family business and invested in agricultural lands, making his fortune, and becoming a count in 1779. At this point he extended his Palazzo in Como and commissioned a villa by the lake, called ‘la Vignola’. He acquired much silver for his houses via his agent Carlo Scalini with archives recording bills up to hundreds of millions of Italian lire.³
Andrea died in 1805, already a widow with his son Alessandro continuing to enhance the family art collection, although Alessandro’s son had to sell everything at auction in 1885.⁴ There is no mention of the three-piece candelabra suite in the sale catalogue, but a Passalacqua family silver inventory of 1886 mentions the lamp⁵ which has kept by the heirs until recently.

Chinese and French influence on Genoa designs

The candelabra now offered have been much praised for their unique skilled combination and delightful innovation of the Italian chinoiserie.
In his article, Franco Boggero suggested that this silver suite could be the work of the Tagliafichi brothers, Andrea and Domenico. Andrea Tagliafichi was a renowned Italian architect who was commissioned the gardens of the Villa Durazzo Pallavicino in 1787. He designed a Chinese pagoda and a neoclassical temple of love on each side of the grand lake (fig.2), highlighting the confluence of European and Chinese style in his work. He worked closely with his silversmith brother Domenico, designing for him ‘two silver vases or tureens’ for the table of King Ferdinand IV of Naples. Andrea had also been commissioned by Andrea Lucini Passalacqua’s cousins to design their new offices.⁶

As early as 1717 Far Eastern porcelain and lacquered items are recorded in Genoese interiors, imported in large quantities as the city strengthened its trade routes over there.⁷ Genoese craftsmen also produced their own Chinoiserie style, combined with European Neo-classical forms.

It is probable that the designer of the silver suite took inspiration from the French painter and designer Jean-Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808). Pillement moved regularly in various European cities and courts, and is most best known and circulated for his chinoiserie designs, published in 1755, titled A New Book of Chinese Ornaments. The cover of this book (fig.4) demonstrates how Pillement adapted traditional French Rococo ornament to his own idea of Chinese patterns with the animated monkeys, oriental figures, and pagodas with hanging bells, resembling prominent features of the candelabra.

 Footnote

1. Franco Boggero,‘La Varieta stravagante. Aspetti e vicende di un ‘servizio’ ritrovato, ‘Per Allumare’, Argenti per la luce del Settecento Genovese, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Genoa, 2008, pp. 34-49.
2. Genoa at the time was under the protection of the Habsburg Empire.
3. F. Boggero, op. cit., p. 48. The amount acquired by Andrea from Scalini between 1772 and 1793 totalled 39474.10.9 lire, including a gold box from Paris in 1793 and silver from Venetian provinces. One of the most expensive bills (2253 lire), dated 1778, is for a silver cross, six candelabra and four vases. Andrea also acquired many jewels for his wife, totalling 110 863.13 lire in 1793.
4. Giulio Sambon, 14-21 April 1885, Teatro della Scala, Milan.
5. Owner’s Family Archives in F. Boggero, op. cit., p. 48.
6. F. Boggero, op. cit., p. 40.
7. Laura Zenone Padula, Viaggio in Occidente, Porcellane Orientali Nelle Civiche Collezioni Genovesi, Milan, 1992, pp.35-36. In 1717 following the division of an estate of the powerful Brignole Sale family mention ‘a small Chinese trunk, vases, mirrors, Chinese lacquered table legs’.