Sorrento Marquetry Box Italy Decor Pompeian Style 19th Century

Rare Italian courtesy box, beautiful inlaid decoration with remarkable finesse in the Pompeian style, work from the second half of the 19th century from the Luigi Garguilo & Figlio workshops located in Sornette facing the island of Capri. Friezes of flowers and geometric motifs serve as a framework for inlaid scenes integrating griffins, birds, grotesques, busy putti on stone tables to create floral compositions, large vases, cups and garlands of flowers.
These artisans used different species of wood such as holly, mahogany, chestnut, orange, lemon, pear, maple, walnut, olive, fig, oak, and cherry, a large number of which are used to create this beautiful object.
In Sorrento in the Bay of Naples, the monks of the monastery of San Agripino carried out inlay work from the 16th century using walnut, lemon and local species. This tradition is taken up by families in the region from whom the first great masters of this specialty will later come. They will develop and perfect these techniques with local specificities, of which Luigi Garguilo and Antonio Damora were the best known. The status of Sorrento, which had become a very popular vacation spot frequented by a large number of influential personalities, quickly led to national and then international recognition of this art, leading to a wide distribution of the objects and small furniture produced by these workshops.
A museum bringing together an incredible collection of pieces tracing the evolution of this know-how can be visited in Sorrento.
Dimensions width 41 cm, depth 25 cm, height 19 cm.