An Italian Baroque large walnut chest of drawers by Pietro Matarazzo Naples, dated 1733

the back signed Pietro Matarazzo, Fe 1733, also bearing a label written in ink in an 18th-century hand

Salvatore e Francesco Romano. Antiquari a Firenze. A Century as Antique Dealers at Palazzo Magnani Feroni, Sotheby's Milan, October 12-15, 2009, lot 474 (144,750 euros)

Overall in very good condition. Please note the monumental size of the piece. Some old wood worm to the top and elsewhere. Scattered age cracks throughout, particularly on the top. Some scattered old chips to some of the carving and old patches.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This type of large chest of drawers is known as a canterano in Italian. Pietro Matarazzo, who signed this impressive work of exceptional proportions in 1733, was part of a Neapolitan family of cabinetmakers. Little is known about him, but there are a few traces of his work, as noted by Enrico Colle in Il Mobile Rococo in Italia, Milan, 2003, p. 68, 486. Pietro is cited as being paid for supplying wardrobes with Paolo Agritta to the chapel of the Monte di Pietà in Naples in 1752, and is also recorded as having worked at the Farmacia dell'Ospedale degli Incurabili in Naples in 1748 with the carvers Agostino Fucito and Gennaro Di Fiore.  These surviving sets of armoires share the same distinctive serpentine moulded borders applied to a simple walnut surface as on the present lot.

A contemporary Neapolitan linen chest of comparably grand proportions is illustrated in A. Putaturo Murano, Il mobile napoletano del Settecento, Naples, 1977, plate 1.