Antique French circa 1870 Bonheur Du Jour Hardwood Marble Desk Bureau Faux Books

We are delighted to offer for sale this very rare and extremely important hand carved walnut fully stamped library table by Angiolo Barbetti of Firenze What a find… this table is by one of the finest Italian carvers of all time, dating to circa 1860, Barbetti’s works sell in the hundreds of thousands, they are highly collectable, impossible to find and when they do come up for sale they usually end up in museum collections, they are simply that good This is an Italian carved walnut library or centre table, the cartouche shaped top with gadrooned edge and leather inset, the carved and pierced frieze incorporating a central shell motif flanked by scroll motifs with swags of flowers, each conforming cabriole shaped leg incorporating similar motifs and joined by an X-stretcher centred by a seated cherub, on scroll carved feet, the underside with branded stamp 'BARBETTI, FIRENZE' What more can I say! The condition is period correct and very fine, we have cleaned waxed and polished it from top to bottom, it is in gallery ready order throughout Dimensions: Height 82.5cm Width 142cm Depth 76cm Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point Angiolo Barbetti (1805 - 1873) was a skilled carver, designer and decorator, with a flourishing atelier in Florence during the nineteenth century. After working in his father Massimiliano's atelier in Siena, he took up an apprenticeship with Giovacchino Guidi (d. 1842), considered one of Siena's finest ebenisti. By 1826-7, he had established a workshop on the Piazza San Giovanni, Siena and in 1830 exhibited his first works at the Istituto delle Belle Arti, Siena. In 1842, Barbetti moved his workshop to Florence, establishing himself near the ponte alle Grazie. Important commissions from this period included carvings for the interiors of Villa San Donato for Prince Anatoly Demidoff. Barbetti took part in many of the international exhibitions of the second half of the nineteenth century, including the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, where he was awarded a medal for a suite of carved walnut furniture. Following the exhibition, the suite of furniture was purchased by the South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it remains today. Joined in the business by his four sons Rafaello, Egisto, Ottavio and Rinaldo by the beginning of 1860, the firm of Barbetti continued to find international success exhibiting successfully at the 1861 Florence exhibition, the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle and the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. Makers Bibliography: Meyer, Jonathan, Great Exhibitions: London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851 - 1900, Antique Collectors Club (Woodbridge, UK), 2006, p. 41. Simone Chiarugi, La bottega di Angiolo Barbetti a Siena e Firenze , in C. Paolini, A. Ponte and O. Selvafolta, Il bello ritrovato , Novara, De Agostini, 1990, pp. 220 223. Simone Chiarugi, La fortuna...

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