ITALIE XVIIe siècle

ITALIE XVIIe siècle

EXCEPTIONAL SECRET CASE Tuscan, Florence or Siena
Walnut
H. 41 cm, W. 68 cm, D. 50 cm
Provenance:
Former Jean Gismondi collection, before 1973
Our carved walnut secret chest is decorated in imitation of basketry and enhanced with gilding fillets. The lid is surmounted by a rectangular pyramid surrounded by friezes of pearls and roughened channels. The interior reveals a small sliding panel "à secret" on the bottom of the lid as well as a locker and small side drawers. The perimeter is decorated with a frieze of diamond points surrounded by friezes of pearls. The set rests on four lion claw feet.
This typology of boxed objects was made as a jewellery box sometimes used to contain nonciatory donations by carrying jewellery and coins inside. The lid with a secret compartment is a frequent feature of this type of object: in fact these were used as safes and were reserved for the eyes of servants and guests. Inside, the key to the lock or small precious objects and coins were kept. The use of zoomorphic feet suggests a sedentary use of this chest, which probably belonged to the stable furniture of the residences and not to those used during travel and movement.
Such Tuscan creations can be found as early as the 16th century, with caskets with an architecture close to our example (fig. 1), and almost exclusively in carved walnut wood (fig. 2). This use of the casket continued in the 17th century following the sedentarisation of the European courts and was adorned with more finely crafted decorations that made greater use of the ornamental motifs of classicism (fig. 3). Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.