A Rococo Inlaid with Bone Italian Mechanical Writing Table Ferrara

Origin

Italy

Period

18th Century

Materials

Walnut, fruit wood and bone

Dimensions

W.	33.25 in;	H.	29.25 in;	D.	24.75 in;
W.	84.46 cm;	H.	74.3 cm;	D.	62.87 cm;

Condition

Excellent.

Creation Date

Circa 1755-1765

Description

This metamorphic writing table has a shaped serpentine molded rectangular top with eared corners and incurved front, centrally inlaid and entwined Three Graces within elaborate flowering trailing oak boughs and acorns. The top slides back to reveal a retractable hinged writing slide incorporating a ratchet book stand flanked by two narrow covered wells beneath which a triple divided well enclosing four small drawers. A serpentine conforming frieze is also inlaid with fantastic fruitwood and bone trailing vines, and the sides with central bone putti, the bowed back centrally inlaid with a figure representing Plenty holding a fruit-filled cornucopia, with a serpentine molded apron. The table is raised on cabriole legs ending in trifid feet.
A similarly shaped writing desk without the elaborate inlay is illustrated by Levy (op. cit.). It has an extremely similar mechanism and ratchet book rest. Another writing desk with trifid feet and a molded shaped apron, however, not as elaborate, is also illustrated. The high quality inlay work on this table is rare for Venetian furniture of this type. Indeed, this inlay work exhibits a decidedly Piedmontese influence.

Styles / Movements

Louis XV, Rococo, Traditional

Book References

Helen Costantino Fioratti, il mobile italiano dall’ antichita allo stile Impero Page 141 Comparative Literature: S. Levy, Il Mobile Veneziano Del Settecento, Milan, 1980, pp. 252 and 258.

News references

Moonan, Wendy. “Much More Than Meets The Eye,” The New York Times. January 8, 1999.

Dealer Reference Number

TBL 18-18

Incollect Reference Number

142580