An Italian cream painted and parcel-gilt stool, Royal Workshops of Turin, last quarter 18th century

For Vittorio Amedeo III (1726-1796), at the Palazzina di Caccia in Stupinigi (Royal Hunting Lodge at the Palace of Stupinigi, Turin).

RELATED LITERATURE

V. Viale, Mostra del Barocco piemontese, Turin, 1963, pl. 201a.

G. Mazzariol, Mobili del Seicento e del Settecento, Milan, 1964, p. 145, pl. C

R. Antonetto, Il mobile piemontese nel Settecento, Vol. II, Turin, 2010, p. 152, fig.24.

L. Lodi, La Galleria di Palazzo Reale a Genova, pl. XI.

These stools, after a design by Foliot, are most probably part of a set of seat furniture from the Palazzina di Caccia, Stupinigi, the Royal hunting lodge on the outskirts of Turin. This palace was originally conceived by Fillippo Juvarra in 1729 for Vittorio Amadeo II, but the construction of the magnificent residence continued throughout the decades and was only completed at the end of King Carlo Emanuele III’s reign (1730-1773). It was during this time that G.M. Bonzanigo, often referred to as the possible maker of these suites, was first employed by the Savoia family, being appointed wood-carver to Victor-Amadeo III (1773-1796) in 1787.

Desiring to embrace the inspiring elegance of the Louis XVI period and using a successful example by Nicolas Quinibert Foliot as a model, this ensemble shows the best traits of the neoclassical period, with the simplicity of form, gilded decoration on the cream painted background and fine carving. These are part of a larger set of which six stools are still at Stupinigi (one illustrated in G. Mazzariol, Mobili del Seicento e del Settecento, Milan, 1964, p. 145, pl. C), four stools in Genoa’s Palazzo Reale and at least another four pairs of stools which have surfaced on the market:

-a pair sold from a European Private collection, sold Sotheby’s, London, 11 June 2003, lot 207;

-one stool, incised 'XXXXX' and 'D A', sold at Christie's, New York, The Collection of Evelyn Annenberg Hall, 17 May 2006, lot 341;

-a pair both incised 'III DA' and 'IIII DA', sold from a Piedmontese Villa Sotheby’s London, 17 November 2009, lot 17.

-two pairs, all marked 'D.A.', one stool marked 'XXXXVIIII' and 'XXVI', another 'XXX' and 'X IIII', and one 'III', formerly from the Estate of Giuseppe Rossi sold Sotheby’s, London, Treasures, 3 July 2019, lots 22 and 23.

The manufacture of these stools as part of a larger matching suite with armchairs and chairs is further confirmed by the inventory marks and Roman numerals underneath most stools (implying there were made in series, marked consecutively), and other types of seating furniture sharing the same design sold, or indeed held in institutional collections. The aforementioned four stools in Palazzo Reale’s Salotto di Diana (Genoa) are seen ensuite with eight chairs and a pair of armchairs, illustrated in L. Lodi, La Galleria di Palazzo Reale a Genova, pl. XI. A banquette, now in an important private collection, was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 11 June 2003, lot 206. 

A pair stamped by Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot (maître in 1729) which was sold Christie’s New York (Arts of France, 26 October 2001, lot 349), seems to be the model for the studied suite. As one of the fournisseurs du Garde-Meuble Royal under Louis XVI, Foliot supplied seat furniture to Versailles, the Trianon, Fontainebleau, Compiègne and Saint-Hubert amongst other Royal residences and would accordingly be a name most suitable as the influence on the seat furniture supplied to Stupinigi. This was not an unfamiliar practice. For example, Jean-Baptiste Tilliard supplied a suite of furniture to the Duchess of Parma in 1755 which was subsequently copied at the time by Italian craftsmen.