An Italian Rococo Engraved Ivory and Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid, Kingwood, Boxwood, Ebony, Amaranth and Carved and Giltwood Marquetry Rectangular Center Table, by Pietro Piffetti

Probably commissioned by Carlo Vincenzo Ferrero d'Ormea (1680-1736), First Minister of King Carlo Emanuelle III of Savoy in 1730 and later Gran Cancelliere in 1742

Official ebanista to the court of the Dukes of Savoy and Kings of Sardinia, Pietro Piffetti (1701-1777) was the most important furniture maker of the Baroque and Rococo periods in Italy, and his stature in the history of both Italian and European furniture is on a par with cabinetmakers like BVRB in France and Thomas Chippendale in England. This previously unrecorded table is a significant addition to his oeuvre.

AN UNPUBLISHED EARLY MASTERPIECE BY PIFFETTI

By Enrico Colle, Director of the Museo Stibbert, Florence

This fine piece can be ascribed on stylistic grounds to a group of similar tables by Pietro Piffetti published by Giancarlo Ferraris and Alvar González-Palacios¹. This group of tables most probably dates to the late 1730s. Together with the one today in the Fondazione Accorsi in Turin and another in a private collection, the present table is characterized by legs whose sinuous shape is emphasized by the ingenious addition of an inlaid line of a lighter wood². Each leg is preciously decorated by an inlay following the curved shape of the leg. Such a design, consisting of intertwined leaves which become smaller as the leg becomes thinner, presents important similarities with the before mentioned table in a private collection, as well as with yet another similar piece by Piffetti, first brought to public attention by Alvar González-Palacios.³

This last piece in particular is the closest to the present table. Both of them present on the legs and the top very similar inlaid designs that evolve around the central cartouche in ebony and ivory, foregrounding it. Consisting of floral garlands, coils and shells, this decorative repertoire can be found in the pieces Piffetti made on his return to Turin following his short stay in Rome between 1727 and 1730. Such designs could be seen for example on the pair of console tables realized between 1731 and 1733 after designs by Filippo Juvarra for the so-called Regio Gabinetto per il Segreto Maneggio degli Affari di Stato in the Turin Royal Palace. Together with the usual floral motifs typical of Piffetti's work, in these pieces we find also some stylized shells, a decorative detail often found in many of Juvarra's designs and architecture. Most remarkably, shells could be found again on the corners of the present table-top. The fact that the two tables (the present one and the privately owned one) were made in the same moment for the same patron is further suggested by the fact that the legs of both of them terminate in ball an claw feet - the only difference being that in the table in a private collection these are in gilt bronze, whilst in the present table they are of carved giltwood.

Born in Turin in 1700, Pietro Piffetti trained in the same city in the workshop of the Venetian cabinetmaker Ludovico de Rossi. Shortly after 1727, probably on Juvarra's recommendation, Piffetti moved to Rome to master the technique of inlay. Juvarra saw in Piffetti a cabinetmaker that could realize furniture to complement his architecture, with complex decorative inlays in line with contemporary trends both in Florence and Venice. It might be interesting to notice that Richard Le Brun was in Rome in those same years. Better known by his Italianized name of Riccard Bruni, Le Brun was an accomplished craftsman working for the Medici court. Juvarra probably saw some of his pieces between 1706 and 1725 when he was in Lucca, where Le Brun had operated for a period, given his marriage with the Lucchese Maria Domenica Campiglia.⁴ In Rome Piffetti had the chance of meeting Le Brun and of learning from him the technique of inlay. On his return to Turin, Piffetti gave demonstration of the extent to which he had perfected that technique with the realization of a very fine wall table and cabinet. This decorated with inlays of a floral design that recall those Le Brun realized in the same period for the Grand Prince of Tuscany Ferdinando de' Medici (1663-1713), attesting to the close contacts between the two masters.⁵

Given its close stylistic similarities with the tables published by Ferraris and González-Palacios, it is most probable that the present table was made by Piffetti during his sojourn in Rome and was commissioned by the Marchese Carlo Vincenzo Ferrero d'Ormea (1680-1745), the first Minister of Carlo Emanuele III of Savory. This hypothesis is supported by one letter dated November 1730 sent by Count Gros, the ambassador representing the Sardinian crown in Rome, to the Marchese. In it, Count Gros states that Piffetti was then ready to come back to Turin, but still needed time to 'complete some commissions he is working on', among which figure 'the tables of your Grace, which would be a shame to leave incomplete given that he [Piffetti] already possesses all the materials from which they must be assembled.'⁶

After his return to Piedmont in 1731, Piffetti provided several pieces to furnish the Savoy Royal residences. At first, these were based on designs by Filippo Juvarra. The presence of the Sicilian architect in Turin had a profound impact on court taste. Juvarra can be credited with having converted the Savoy stylistic idiom from the opulence of Baroque to a new conception of indoor decoration, understood as a stylistic continuation with nature and employing almost exclusively exquisite materials. Rich inlays in precious woods, bone, ivory and mother of pearl, Piffetti's production should be understood in this context.⁷

The elegant, slim shape of the present table recalls very closely that of the aforementioned console tables provided by Piffetti after a design by Juvarra for the Regio Gabinetto per il Segreto Maneggio degli Affari di Stato. Similarly, the intricate inlaid designs of the top present remarkable similarities with other early works by Piffetti, when he was collaborating with Juvarra on the renovation of the interiors of the Turin Royal Palace.

These stylistic elements, together with the aforementioned documents, lead us to believe that the present table is to be identified with those Piffetti was working on in Rome in the last months of 1730 for the Marquis d'Ormea and completed in Turin at the beginning of 1731. In June of that same year, Piffetti was nominated Ebanista di Sua Maestà i.e. Royal cabinetmaker to the King of Sardinia. He was the first master to receive this title, which he retained until his death in 1777. This work, therefore, is an example of the early production of Piffetti and a precious document of the intense intellectual exchanges between the cabinetmaker, Richard Bruni and Filippo Juvarra, as well as a fine example of furniture in the Rococo style that was burgeoning in those years.

Works by the illustrious Italian cabinet maker Pietro Piffetti are among the rarest objects to be offered at auction. An iconic master of the eighteenth century, Piffetti is considered by many to be one of the most important craftsmen of his time. In fact, the eminent decorative arts historian Alvar González-Palacios referred to him as not only the best ébéniste of the Italian Settecento, but also to be among the greatest virtuosi of his craft Europe has ever seen. His work is characterized by an extraordinary fluidity of line in combination with an unparalleled technical skill and lavish use of precious woods and exotic materials. For his marquetry and the spectacular effects he attained, he used a variety of woods to which he added mother-of-pearl, tinted and natural ivory, and tortoiseshell. The ivory inlay on his works is often engraved with hatched shading to give added volume and create a three-dimensional effect. Piffetti’s works most often utilized the same motifs: acanthus leaves, small palmettes, beads, arabesques, volutes and stylized scalloped shells. He also composed panels representing figures or landscapes, hunting and religious scenes.

PIETRO PIFFETTI (1700-1777), EBANISTA DI S.M. THE KING OF SARDINIA IN 1731

Piffetti was born in Turin in 1700 and trained in Rome in the 1720's, with his elder brother Francesco. In 1730, he came to the attention of the Prime Minister of Piedmont, the Marchese d'Ormea and was persuaded to return to Turin the following year and was subsequently appointed royal cabinet-maker to Carlo Emanuele III. Piffetti spent the rest of his life in Turin, except for a period in Rome in the late 1740's, and was still active in 1767, dying in 1777. He provided works not only for the King and the Queen, but also for the King's eldest son, the Duca di Savoia (1726-1796), who succeeded his father as Vittorio Amedeo III. He also delivered pieces for the Royal Princesses, for the King's youngest son, the Duca del Chiablese and for other members of the Royal family and aristocracy. He was responsible for creating whole room settings such as the library that is today in the Quirinale Palace as well as small chapels or pregadio. It is also worthwhile noting that he sometimes signed with the words sculpit next to his name which leads to the assumption that he did not regard himself purely as a cabinetmaker but also as an artist engraver. In fact, there is a sculptural quality to his scenes, which were often based upon engravings. Today, many of his works are to be found in the Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, the Fondazione Accorsi, the Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama, Turin, a lasting testament to his extraordinary talent and vision.

¹ G.Ferraris, A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, Pietro Piffetti e gli ebanisti a Torino 1670-1838, Turin, 1992, p.135.

² G.Ferraris, A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, op. cit., 1992, p.129; V. Viale, Catalogo della mostra del Barocco Piemontese, 3 vv., Turin, 1963, cat.31.

³ G.Ferraris, A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, op. cit., 1992, p.134. The same table has been republished by R. Antonetto, Il mobile piemontese nel Settecento, Turin, 2010, p.248 and date to the second quarter of the eighteenth century.

⁴ C.Cagliero, La formazione giovanile di Pietro Piffetti Regio Ebanista alla corte dei Savoia, Ivrea, 2020; for Ricardo Bruni, see E.Colle, I mobili di Palazzo Pitti. Il periodo dei Medici 1537-1737, Florence, 1997.

⁵ G. Ferraris, A.Gonzàlez-Palacios, op.cit., 1992, pp.16-21.

⁶ G. Ferraris, A.Gonzàlez-Palacios, op.cit., 1992, p.197, doc.3, 'Per sbrigarsi alcuni lavori che ha per le mani [...] i tavolini de l'E[ccellenza] V[ostra] i quali gli sarebbero di preguidizio a lasciarli imperfetti avendo già all'ordine tutta la matteria di cui si deve comporre'.

⁷ E. Colle, 'Prima di Piffetti, dopo Piffetti: le vitrtù dell'intarsio italiano', in Genio a maestria. Mobili ed ebanisti alla corte sabauda tra Settecento e Ottocento, exhibition catalogue, Turin, 2018, p.45.