AN ITALIAN POLYCHROME LACQUERED AND PAINTED COMMODE, GENOESE, MID 18TH CENTURY |

the serpentine top painted to simulate grey marble above two short and two longer drawers with brass escutcheons and pierced drawer pulls, decorated on the front and sides with chinoiserie scenes of fishermen, travellers and monkeys playing on a swing in architectural and riverside settings surrounded by polychrome floral spray borders, on splayed feet

Related literature:
A. González-Palacios, Il Mobile in Liguria, Genoa, 1996, p. 208, fig. 240 and p. 215, fig. 246
E. Baccheschi, Mobili Genovesi, Milan, 1962
E. Colle, Il Mobile Rococò in Italia, Milan, 2003, p. 258
L. Canonero, Barocchetto Genovese, Milan,1962, plates 3, 9 and 32
E. Barbolini Ferrari, Mobili Dipinti, Milan, 2004, p. 132
G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Genovese, Milan, plates 225 and 228
C. Steiner, Mobili e Ambienti Italiani, Milan, 1963, no. 462

The illustration is fine. The painted polychrome decoration is fine with nice contrasts in color. It is slightly worn in places (on the top) but totally fixed on the piece itself. The decoration is not lifting. It is crackling smoothly on joints of the carcass. Minor chips particularly on the edges. It has probably been lightly waxed or varnished at some stages so it gives a small yellowish aspect.
"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."

This commode is an extremely rare example of Genoese chinoiserie lacquered furniture as most of the surviving examples are painted with flowers, see for example commodes decorated with related floral motifs illustrated by Colle, op. cit., p. 258, and by Canonero, op. cit. plates 3 and 9. A comparable commode possibly from the same workshop, formerly in the Giuseppe Rossi Collection, sold Sotheby's London, 10th-12th March 1999, lot 188 (also illustrated by Canonero, op. cit., plate 32).  A related example is illustrated by Steiner, op. cit., no. 462. A further related example, with similar English-inspired escutcheons and drawer pulls and bearing the crests of the Grimaldi and Spinola families, is illustrated by González-Palacios, op. cit., p. 208 fig. 240, where the author describes the piece as 'one of the finest painted Genoese commodes' extant (p. 214) and dates it to 1769, the year of a double marriage between members of the two patrician families, indicating that the taste for this style of decoration persisted well into the latter half of the 1700's.

The vicinity of France and its political influence on the Republic of Genoa throughout the 18th century had a strong impact on the cultural life of the latter. Genoa gained an equal reputation to that of Venice with regards to lacquered pieces and the corporation of laccatori in Genoa used a type of lacquer which was different to that used in Venice as it was thinner. During a 1765 visit to the Ligurian capital, the French astronomer Jean-Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (1732-1807) commented favourably on the quality of lacquer objects produced in the city and noted that a workshop opposite the Chiesa della Maddalena had achieved such notoriety over the past twenty years that connoisseurs esteemed the local vernice della Maddalena of equal quality and prestige to the celebrated Parisian Vernis Martin. Unfortunately, as in Venice, the lack of a Court and of Royal commissions make it difficult, if not impossible to identify the names of specific furniture makers. 

A comparable commode was sold in Sotheby's, London, 12th June 2002, lot 331 (£60,000).