An Italian carved giltwood guéridon, probably Milan, early 19th century

The iconography of the present impressive guéridon, characterized by the eagles spreading their wings, lends a powerful symbol of grandeur and power to the piece. Further inspection and expertise confirm it is of Italian origin and is probably an example of the type of furniture produced in the early 19th century in Milan.

In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte created the Regno Italico, or Kingdom of Italy (roughly comprising Northern Italy) with him as King and Eugène de Beauharnais, his stepson, as his viceroy. From then on, North Italian furniture was clearly influenced by the French Empire style, so well represented at the time by Charles Percier’s and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine’s Recueil de décorations intérieures. This guéridon is emblematic of this historical moment, when Italian craftsmen were undeniably influenced by neoclassical decorative elements, but were also attempting to create innovative designs that would expand the traditional French Empire style's vocabulary of ornamentation. The latter is found in early 19^th century prints published by Lorenzo Roccheggiani in his recueil Invenzioni diverse di mobili ed utensili sacri e profane per usi comuni della vitta. See his print with a bed bearing eagle finials and a chair whose backrest depicts an eagle within a laurel wreath (illustrated Clelia Alberici, Il Mobile Lombardo, 1969, p.226).

Contemporary to the present are a few Milanese tripartite or quadripartite tables (see for reference the gueridon offered at Sotheby’s, London, 10 December 2020, lot 33) and also a group of tables by Wilhelm Hopfgarten (d. 1860) and Benjamin Ludwig Jollage (d. 1837), renowned Prussian bronziers who were active from around 1805 in Rome. The pair executed guéridons with eagles spreading their wings: one is recorded at the Château de Versailles (inv. nr. T396C) and another attributed to them was sold at Christie’s London, 29 July 2020, lot 45. A similar jardinière in the form of an antique brazier or perfume burner is found was formerly in the collections of Milan’s Palazzo Reale (ill. Alberici, op. cit., p.238).