AN ITALIAN GILT-BRONZE-MOUNTED MAHOGANY SECRÉTAIRE À ABATTANT INSET WITH A PICTORIAL MARQUETRY PANEL BY GIOVANNI MAFFEZZOLI (CREMONA 1776-1818), LOMBARD early 19th century

with a veined white marble top above a frieze drawer, the fall-front with a panel depicting the Athenian general Focione and his wife Cornelia and his children, after a design by Giuseppe Diotti, opening to reveal a fitted interior with a leather-lined writing surface within a border of bone roundels, with a mirrored backboard with six columns and six short drawers with lion mask ring-pull handles, the pigeon-holes with leather-linings, the lower section with a cupboard door

Old very minor marks chips and scratches commensurate with age and very minor restorations to the veneer. Later glass panel to cover marquetry panel which has most attractive detail and is in very good condition. Some minor rubbing to the gilt-bronze. Some very minor chips and a couple of small areas of infill to the marble top which are hardly noticeable. Hairline vertical crack down left side of upper section and two further ones down lower section of same side. There is a construction crack in the upper and lower sections in the right side which can easily be filled. Evidence of old very minor worm which appears to be no longer active. A section of the mirror on the inside is broken but can be replaced. A most attractive and unusual piece in otherwise good condition.
"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."

Comparative Literature:
Mario Tavella,Tarsie di Giovanni Maffezzoli, in Antologia delle Belle Arti, 1998, page 166, fig. 4 .
Roberto Valeriani, Due Quadri Lignei di Giovanni Maffezzoli 1776-1818, Carlo Virgilio, Rome, 2005, p. 11, fig.6.

The panel inset on the present secrétaire belongs to a well known series depicting scenes from classical mythology and Greco-Roman history. All of them of similar size, were executed by the Cremonese, Giovanni Maffezzoli mostly between 1805 and 1816. Most of them are recorded in both public and private collections, although a few have been dispersed.

Maffezzoli produced more than one panel taking inspiration from the same subject matter. For example, a virtually identical panel (in its original frame) is recorded in a European private collection.

The cabinet-maker Giovanni Maffezzoli (1776-1818) was the most gifted pupil of the celebrated Royal ebanista Giuseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814), in whose workshop in Parabiago he commenced his apprenticeship in 1791, at the age of fifteen.

A group of furniture, some of which is signed and dated from 1795-1802, by the Cremonese inlayer and cabinet-maker, is in various Private collections in Cremona while other pieces previously in Palazzo Mina-Bolzesi in Cremona have been dispersed.

The quality of Maffezzoli's pictorial marquetry reached very high levels and some of the abovementioned panels presented in frames like paintings in wood, were awarded with medals in the exhibitions of the Arti e Mestieri organised by the Istituto Reale delle Scienze in Milan. He often took as his sources, the work of the painter Giusepepe Diotti (1779-1846), who upheld the classical concept of the supremacy of drawing as the foundation for the figurative arts.
The present scene illustrates General Focione,who refuses 100 talents offered by Alexander and in doing so, he indicates that his family are his most coveted treasure.