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Attributed to Falcini
An Exceptional Ivory-Inlaid Ebony, Fruitwood and Green-Stained Marquetry Centre Table
£65,000
An Exceptional Ivory-Inlaid Ebony, Fruitwood and Green-Stained Marquetry Centre Table, Attributed to Luigi and Angelo Falcini, Florence. The rectangular...
Dimensions
Height: 84 cm (34 in)Width: 122 cm (49 in)
Depth: 82 cm (33 in)
PrintDescription
An Exceptional Ivory-Inlaid Ebony, Fruitwood and Green-Stained Marquetry Centre Table, Attributed to Luigi and Angelo Falcini, Florence.
The rectangular top inlaid with a profusion of marquetry flowers and exotic birds. The frieze similarly inlaid with birds divided by floral volutes, and fitted with a long drawer. On column legs with brass capitals and inlaid with Bacchic masks. The waved ‘X’-shaped stretcher with reserves enclosing floral sprays and insects, the central roundel inlaid with the Medici coat-of arms, on brass bun feet.
Italy, Circa 1840.
The masterclass in Italian intarsia work is attributed to the Falcini brothers who established workshops in Florence in the 1820s. It is closely inspired by a table made for the Medici family in the in the third quarter of the 17th century, attributed to Lionardo van der Vinne (d. 1713) and by the 19th century in the collection of the Accademia delle Belle Arti, now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
The 17th century table for the Medici family, attributed to Lionardo van der Vinne (d. 1713) in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (Image © Beni Culturali Standard (BCS) / Public Doman). https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0900135340
The Medici family in fact commissioned four tables of this model in 1679. Tables dating to the 19th century, and also attributed to the Falcini brothers, are in the National Gallery of Ottawa (no. 18187, purchased 1974) and in the Institute of Fine Arts in Detroit (no. 71.293, provenance, W. Apolloni, Rome).
The table attributed to the Falcini brothers in the Institute of Fine Arts in Detroit (Image Public Domain / Accession Number 71.293). https://dia.org/collection/table-64294
The sophistication and quality of the table in Detroit meant that at first it was ascribed to van der Vinne and dated to the 17th century. Later analysis revealed it to be 19th century. This mistaken attribution demonstrates that the exceptional craftsmanship of the Falcini brothers can be taken for the work of a Renaissance master.
Mention of this model of table was made in a report from the 1844 Esposizione di Firenze, ‘… una tavola a intarsio copiata da una simile esistente nell. I.R. Accademia di Belle Arti’, and again, and more compellingly, in 1847, in the catalogue of the Mostra Cittadina, ‘[the Falcinis presented] un piano di una tavola copiato da un capolavoro antico esistente nella Galleria dell’Accademia delle Belle Arti, appartenuto già alla famiglia medicea’.
**Please note Adrian Alan Ltd has applied for a de minimis exemption license for the ivory in this table (ref. 5QRA4GFM)
Date
Circa 1840
Origin
Italy
Medium
Marquetry Inlay
Luigi (1794 – 1861) and Angiolo (1801 – 1850) Falcini were the sons of a cabinet maker from Campi, a small village near Florence. They went to Florence in the 1820s, a city famous for its intarsia workshops since the Renaissance, and opened up workshops in via delle Fosse and via Rosa.
The first piece to be exhibited by the Falcini brothers was a prize-winning marquetry table shown at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence in 1834 – 1836, for which they received a medal. It was subsequently purchased by Grand Duke Leopold II for his private collection. In the following years Luigi and Angiolo, exhibited in many exhibitions of the Accademia as well as the Florence exhibitions of 1854 and 1861, the 1851 London Exhibition, the 1853 New York Exhibition and the 1855 Paris Exhibition. Their high-quality work was demanded by many important Italian and international collectors and they completed important commissions for a number of prominent patrons. Amongst which were Prince Demidoff for the Villa San Donato, Florence, the Duchess of Casigliano and Countess Borghesi. Luigi was also entrusted with the prestigious work of restoring the Renaissance doors of the Palazzo Vecchio.
The intarsia work that the Falcini’s produced was varied. In their earlier years it was more neo-classical and monochromatic. Later it became richer in colour and materials and more lively in design. They used a large quantity of different native woods like acer, box and olive. For the dark grounds of their furniture they chose imported wood like ebony, Indian walnut, and mahogany from Cuba and Jamaica. For the red shades in the marquetry they used red ebony, corallino delle Antille, Indian aloe and bois de violette from Gayas and Brazil. For yellow shades, legno di scotano, il sommaco di Sicilia, il priego di Spagna e di America and bois de citron were chosen. Calambaco del Messico was used for different shades of green. Other colours, like purple or light blue were reached by colouring woods by chemical means – a technique developed to perfection by the Falcini’s.
The use of multiple coloured woods plus other materials like mother of pearl, ivory, bone and sometimes even metal, derives from the Falcinis’ interest in the Baroque art produced at the last court of the Medici era. In particular they admired the work of Flemish-born Leonardo Van Der Vinne (d. 1713), who had played an active role in the Medici’s Opificio delle Pietre Dure.
The Falcini’s most famous pupil was Gian Battista Gatti, whose skills in very fine intarsia work were internationally renowned.
After the death of the brothers the workshop, by then run by Luigi’s sons, Cesare and Alessandro, lost its importance, which was also due to the change in taste, as flower marquetry went out of demand in circa 1860.
Bibliography:
Chiarugi, Simone, Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana, Vol II, (Florence), 1994; p.p. 463.
Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar, Il Tempio del Gusto, La toscana e l’Italia Settentrionale, Vol I p.p. 179.
Claudio Paolini, Alessandra Ponte, Ornella Selvafolte, Il Bello Ritrovato, Novara 1990, p.p. 226.
S. Chiarugi, Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana 1780-1900, Firenze, 1994, pp. 194-197
A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, La Toscana e l’Italia Settentrionale, Vol. I, p. 179
C. Paolini, A. Ponte, O. Selvafolte, Il Bello Ritrovato, Novara, 1990, p. 226
