Prayer Desk (Inginocchiatoio)
1580-1600 (made)
| Place of origin |
Prayer desk of walnut wood, with drawer and cupboard, which are seperated from one another by a projecting guilloche band. On either side of the drawer is a mask, and on either side of the cupboard is a winged terminal figure. A guilloche border runs round the door of the cupboard. The top of the step lifts up to form a lid.
Construction
The very poor construction, lack of wear, and mix of old (reworked) timber with carved parts of uncertain age, suggests that the piece may have been created in the 19th century, or at least heavily restored at that time. Largely nailed together (with handmade nails) without properly cut joints, and the surfaces characterised by sharp edges and lack of corrosion near nails. The top has been heavily scraped. The back (of old reused walnut, newly sawn) is nailed to sides, with a moulding concealing the joint. The underside consists of nailed up boards of indeterminate age (possibly of elm). The kneeler area is new wood; the skirt moulding could be old but has been newly mitred. Internally, the shelves appear to be of old timber, replaned (which has revealed worm holes). The top guilloche moulding looks new, while the front stiles lack clear fixings to the sides (and were perhaps fixed with glue). The drawer is nailed together and roughly made, using (in part) old, recut timber. Inside are manuscript bills dated 1801/1819 which have been pasted onto the wood.
Construction
The very poor construction, lack of wear, and mix of old (reworked) timber with carved parts of uncertain age, suggests that the piece may have been created in the 19th century, or at least heavily restored at that time. Largely nailed together (with handmade nails) without properly cut joints, and the surfaces characterised by sharp edges and lack of corrosion near nails. The top has been heavily scraped. The back (of old reused walnut, newly sawn) is nailed to sides, with a moulding concealing the joint. The underside consists of nailed up boards of indeterminate age (possibly of elm). The kneeler area is new wood; the skirt moulding could be old but has been newly mitred. Internally, the shelves appear to be of old timber, replaned (which has revealed worm holes). The top guilloche moulding looks new, while the front stiles lack clear fixings to the sides (and were perhaps fixed with glue). The drawer is nailed together and roughly made, using (in part) old, recut timber. Inside are manuscript bills dated 1801/1819 which have been pasted onto the wood.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Walnut and other woods, nailed and glued |
| Brief description | Prayer Desk (Inginocchiatoio), Italian, late 16th century, possibly created 1860-80, walnut |
| Physical description | Prayer desk of walnut wood, with drawer and cupboard, which are seperated from one another by a projecting guilloche band. On either side of the drawer is a mask, and on either side of the cupboard is a winged terminal figure. A guilloche border runs round the door of the cupboard. The top of the step lifts up to form a lid. Construction The very poor construction, lack of wear, and mix of old (reworked) timber with carved parts of uncertain age, suggests that the piece may have been created in the 19th century, or at least heavily restored at that time. Largely nailed together (with handmade nails) without properly cut joints, and the surfaces characterised by sharp edges and lack of corrosion near nails. The top has been heavily scraped. The back (of old reused walnut, newly sawn) is nailed to sides, with a moulding concealing the joint. The underside consists of nailed up boards of indeterminate age (possibly of elm). The kneeler area is new wood; the skirt moulding could be old but has been newly mitred. Internally, the shelves appear to be of old timber, replaned (which has revealed worm holes). The top guilloche moulding looks new, while the front stiles lack clear fixings to the sides (and were perhaps fixed with glue). The drawer is nailed together and roughly made, using (in part) old, recut timber. Inside are manuscript bills dated 1801/1819 which have been pasted onto the wood. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Bought for £19 1s from Signori Fratelli Mora, Corso Vittorio Emanuele 12-14, Milan R.F. 1313/1892 Notes: see R.F. 311/1892, 1219/1892 Lent to the exhibition, Madonnas and Miracles: The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 7 March - 4 June 2017 |
| Historical context | Comparable objects Charles Tracy, Church Furniture in England – A Traffic in Piety (Woodbridge, 2001): H/2 (Italian early 17th century, pine, 89 x 60.5 x 43cm at Hever Castle, Kent), and H/3 (Italian early 17th century, walnut, 87.5 x 66.5 x 63cm at All Saints Church, Tooting Graveney, London). Philadelphia Museum of Art : Prayer desk, Italian 1600-25; walnut, pine; 37 1/4 x 30 x 22 inches (94.6 x 76.2 x 55.9 cm); Accession Number: 2006-117-1. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Karl F. Ockert, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/ 20231023113023/https:// www.philamuseum.org/collection/object/ 299283 Enrico Colle con la collaborazione di Susanna Zanuso, Museo d'arti applicate. Mobili e intagli lignei (Milano : Electa, c1996), nos. 25-32 Brunella Teodori, Simone Chiarugi, Jennifer Celani, Attraverso il Novecento – Le Collezioni del Museo di Palazzo Davanzati, 2. Gli Arredi (Through the Twentieth Century – The Collections of the Museum of Palazzo Davanzati, 2. Furniture (Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, 2016), nos. 61, 183 Ferenc Batári, and Erzsébet Vadászi ; edited by Elvira Király: Art of furniture-making from the Gothic to the Biedermeier: European Furniture from the 15th to the 19th Century in the Nagytétény Castle Museum ([Budapest : Museum of Applied Arts], 2002.): colour plate III, no. 4 (Ragusa? c1600) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 58-1892 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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