Offered by Brozzetti Antichità
16th Century, Italian Wood Cabinet on Stand with « bambocci » sculptures
This Cabinet, finely carved in solid walnut with « bambocci » sculptures, was made in the sixteenth century in Genoa. Over the centuries it has undergone some replacements and remakes of wooden parts, surely gone damaged, as often can be found in the furniture of the High Era.
The furniture, representative of the superb Genoa of the sixteenth century, consists of two parts. The upper one is richly decorated with sculptures in the round and high relief with nudes and cherubs with caryatids on the four uprights and placed ahead of the important frieze outlined between frames carved with geometric patterns. On the front there are several drawers and doors with interior secrets, again decorated with meticulous carvings to create architectural parts with tympanums, caryatids and figures inserted inside niches. The lower part has two doors carved with architectural motifs, which conceal inside a space divided by a floor. On the sides of the doors, near the front uprights, there are high-relief sculptures depicting female busts surrounded by vegetable elements, volutes and, below, masks typical of the Renaissance taste. The two feet juxtapose sculptures with leonine heads and feet.
This Cabinet, characterized by a refinement of workmanship, is considered both mobile and sculpture. In Italy, it is defined « a bambocci », for the series of sculptures that ennoble and embellish the furniture, making it rich and complete. The patina of dark wood is well preserved and gives further charm to this piece of furniture, which can be placed in different environments such as a living room, a study, an entrance hall or a bedroom. Being a very particular object, thanks to its rich set of sculptures, the cabinet can be combined with both antique furniture and modern furniture.
On the front, in front of the set of drawers, was certainly allocated a door to drop no longer present.
