A large Italian third quarter 18th century giltwood armchair or throne chair

of Venetian origin

Footnotes

A related pair of Venetian 18th century giltwood side chairs, made for Paolo Renier (1710-1789), who served as the last Doge of Venice until his death in 1789, sold Christie's, London, 10 June 2004, Important European Furniture, lot 21. Also, a pair of side chairs evidently forming part of the same commission had previously sold Christie's London, 15 December 1994, lot 559.

These comparables formed part of a suite of furniture which was originally supplied to Paolo Renier before 1779. This is known because a portrait of Renier dressed in his official robes as the newly appointed Doge, by Ludovico Gallina (now in the Museo Civico, Padua), depicts Renier with a console table and armchairs from this suite, while the painting itself dates to 1779. Both this oil on canvas, as well as two side chairs and one of the armchairs from the Renier suite, are illustrated in A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Le Art Decorative in Italia fra Classicismi e Barocco, Vol. II, fig.s 770-772 & 776, pp.'s 365-368.

Of additional interest is another very similar Gallina portrait of Renier, depicted in 'full garb' as Doge, which is set within an elaborate contemporary carved giltwood frame crowned by a 'Corno Ducale' (or Doge's hat), that is very close in terms of its execution and relative size to the one surmounting the offered lot, Ibid, Vol. II fig. 778, p. 369.

The Ca'Rezzonico and Cini Collection, both in Venice, house other chairs from this historic suite, whilst additional examples from the set can be seen at the Wallace Collection (illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Furniture, 1956, fig. 491-2, pl. 36) and other private collections. A further group of associated armchairs were sold as part of the Donna delle Rose Collection, Venice, 1934, lots 364-371. In this sale catalogue, G. Lorenzetti and L. Planiscig dated the suite to the first quarter of the 18th century and attributed its execution to the sculptor Antonio Corradini (1688-1752) due to the stylistic similarities between this furniture and fragments of the last state barge (Bucintorr), which was also claimed to be by Corradini. However, Alvar González-Palacios suggests that the suite is unlikely to be by Corradini but instead it could be the output of a single anonymous workshop, also dating the work to the third quarter of the 18th Century, by which time Corradini had died, Ibid, Vol. I, fig. LIV, pp.'s 333-341.

Literature
A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Le Art Decorative in Italia fra Classicismi e Barocco, Vol.'s I & II, 1986, Milan.