Casket on Stand thumbnail 1
Casket on Stand thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Europe 1600-1815, Room 3

Casket on Stand

ca. 1745 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

By about 1740, the most luxurious Italian furniture was being produced in Turin, in the workshop of Piero Piffetti (1700-1777). Appointed as cabinet-maker to the kings of Sardinia in 1731, Piffetti was prolific in his output, predominantly produced as court commissions for the royal palace in Turin and other royal residences in Piedmont. His works are characteristically decorated with inlays of various woods, ivory and mother-of-pearl, which he used lavishly on small objects such as spittoons and spinning wheels (for one in the V&A see W.159-1921), larger pieces such as cabinets and tables, and even in the decoration of whole interior schemes in the royal palace and other court residences. The sinuous form of this mother-of-pearl casket and stand, which rests on a base inlaid with various woods and ivory, is entirely in keeping with the rococo style fashionable at this date. The watery themes of its decoration are similarly rococo: the casket takes the form of a conch shell, the mother-of-pearl resembles fish scales, while the mounts take the form of asymmetrical cartouches, rocaille elements and sea creatures. The casket was almost certainly part of a lottery that took place in November 1779 in Turin, following Piffetti’s death. It may originally have been one of a pair, although as yet no pair has been found.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Mother-of-pearl veneer, gilt-bronze and gilt-copper mounts, kingwood and spindle wood veneered base, with engraved and painted ivory, on a poplar carcase
Brief description
Casket on stand, veneered with mother-of-pearl and decorated with gilded bronze mounts, on a base inlaid with various woods and ivory, by Pietro Piffetti, Turin, c.1745
Physical description
Casket on stand supported by plinth

Oval casket in the form of a closed conch shell supported on a stand with shaped octagonal and x-shaped stretcher top, standing on a curved, x-shaped base.

The lid of the casket is surmounted by a brass figure of Minerva, holding her spear in the right hand (the top is broken) and her Medusa-mask shield in the left hand. She stands in front of a military trophy comprising cannon balls, drum, quiver of arrows, and a flag. The top of the lid is embellished with a rococo brass cartouche, with raised mother-of-pearl cabochons, garlanded with flowers.

The lid and body of the casket are composed of overlapping layers of small mother-of-pearl panels resembling fish scales, forming undulating and twisting gadroons. Below the casket a plinth, in the form of an oval waterlilly with pearl petals, springs up and out from the centre of the stand, which is likewise veneered with overlapping ripples of pearl panels with concave and convex edges. The shaped rim of the casket is mounted with rococo brass ornament, the back of which incorporates the long hinge. A rococo band of brass watery-ornament runs round the body of the casket and incorporates the rococo key-escutcheon (with hinged cover) at the front. Pairs of brass male and female mer-figures support the casket at front and back. They are seated astride turtles, each with their outside arm resting on the turtle's head and their inside arm, looped round a floral garland which is suspended from the watery band, holds a dolphin up by its tail.

The rounded rim of the stand is embellished with watery rococo ornament incorporating 8 fat shells of pearl alternating with eight smaller ones. Shell and palm fronds are incorporated in the ornament and a dolphin emerges from the right side. The stand is supported on cabriole legs, with inward scrolling curves at the top, and concave front edges. The concave frame with assymetrical S curves twisting to the left is embellished with a watery brass apron with cabochons and palm fronds. A watery cartouche is wrapped round the inside top of the legs and flower emerge from the C scrolls on their knee. The arched X shaped scroll stretchers with lambrequin lower edges support a central trophy composed of Minerva's dragon-mounted helmet and quiver of arrows resting on her shield. A brass rococo boss hangs beneath the centre of the stretcher.

Each of the legs of the stand has water scroll mounts terminating in an upturned Indian head, wrapped by a turban, embellished with pearls and a central aigrette. The heads are supported on fringed cushions at the back, from which water leaves spring up. The surface of the casket and its stand is entirely veneered in pink, green, grey pearl.

The base is veneered in various woods, with concave sides and rounded corners from the centre of which are suspended ivory floral garlands, with additional sprays at the corners. The flowers are partly painted or shaded, some being engraved and filled with a red composition. The garlands are suspended from a plain brass band. The convex top edge of the base is veneered in a herringbone fashion and mounted at the corners with watery rococo ornament, incorporating pearl cartouches and with palm branches at the sides. A large rococo roundel in the centre of the plinth overflows down the front edge and supports in the centre an acanthus bud.

Dimensions
  • Height: 1423mm
  • Width: 685mm
  • Depth: 570mm
Measured by Conservation, 2012
Gallery label
  • Casket on stand About 1745 This ambitious object is somewhere between sculpture and furniture. Courtiers and wealthy people wanted furniture to be splendid and decorative. Pietro Piffetti was cabinet-maker to the King of Sardinia, who held his court in Turin. He was highly inventive in shaping his furniture and decorating it luxuriously, using materials such as mother-of-pearl or ivory, as well asa variety of timbers. Italy (Turin) Made in the workshop of Pietro Piffetti Wood veneered with mother-of-pearl; gilded copper alloy figures and mounts Stand: rosewood inlaid with ivory Purchased with funds from the Captain H.B. Murray Bequest(09/12/2015)
  • ORNAMENTAL STAND NORTH ITALIAN (Turin); mid 18th century Wooden core veneered with mother-of-pearl. Gilt bronze figures and mounts. The rosewood base is inlaid with ivory. The decoration of the inlaid base suggests that this Rococo extravaganza was made in the workshop of Pietro Piffetti, a cabinet-maker working in Turin during the middle years of the century. Bought from the funds of the Murray Bequest.(pre October 2000)
  • CASKET ON STAND ITALIAN (Turin); about 1745 Made by Pietro Piffetti (c. 1700-1777) Wooden core veneered with mother-of -pearl, rosewood, and ivory. Gilt bronze mounts. Piffetti was established in Turin in 1731, when he was appointed ebanista or Royal cabinet-maker to Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Some of his furniture was executed to the designs of the architect Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736). The mounts are attributed to the sculptor Francesco Ladatte (1706-87). Bought with funds from the Murray Bequest.(pre October 2000)
  • ORNAMENTAL STAND NORTH ITALIAN (Turin); mid-18th century Wooden core veneered with mother-of-pearl. Gilt bronze figure and mounts. The rosewood base inlaid with ivory. The decoration of the inlaid base suggests that this Rococo extravaganza was made in the workshop at Pietro Piffetti, a cabinet-maker working in Turin during the middle years of the century. Bought from the funds of the Murray Bequest.(1971)
Object history
When purchased from Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd, London, in 1946, this casket on a stand was thought to be German and to have come from one of the German palaces such as Nymphenburg or Potsdam before entering the Rothschild collection. However, in 1984 Alvar González-Palacios attributed it to Piffetti on stylistic grounds (see Il tempio del gusto), an attribution later strengthened by the discovery, by Giancarlo Ferraris, of the description of a lottery of Piffetti's furniture after his death, held in 1779 in Turin.

This casket is almost certainly that described in lot no. 14 in this lottery. However, there are slight discrepancies: the lot description refers to a figure of Mars on top of the casket rather than Minerva, who is clearly identifiable on the V&A's casket, and also refers to the urn being supported by sirens, in contrast to the sirens and tritons that appear on the V&A casket. It is possible that these discrepancies were simply misidentifications in the lottery description. An alternative possibility is that the casket was originally one of a pair, one bearing Mars and one Minerva, though no evidence of a second casket has yet been found.

The lottery description reads as follows:
'An oval table decorated with garlands, and all inlaid with small pieces of mother-of-pearl in the form of fish scales, arranged in playful curving lines, with four legs linked by a stretcher in the middle. Placed on top of the said table is a covered urn, also inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the said urn is supported by four Sirens carried by four sea creatures, and they hold dolphins in their hands that spurt water. Above is found the Statue of Mars in gilded bronze, and the extremities of the feet are four heads, which rest on a base inlaid in noce d'India, brazilwood, mother-of-pearl and ivory inlaid in flowers and foliage to resemble nature. The whole piece is richly decorated with various motifs of flowers, garlands, and mounted with gilded bronze with locks, keys and a case.'

This is the only known work by Piffetti to be almost entirely covered in mother-of-pearl, except for two monumental altar frontals: one made in 1747 as a gift to Pope Benedict XIV (now in the Vatican, and one made for the Church of St Philip in Turin in 1749.

In 1952, when the casket and stand were still thought to be German, it was shown in the V&A 'Exhibition of the Brunswick Art Treasures', at the Museum, and is shown in photographs of the show.
Subjects depicted
Summary
By about 1740, the most luxurious Italian furniture was being produced in Turin, in the workshop of Piero Piffetti (1700-1777). Appointed as cabinet-maker to the kings of Sardinia in 1731, Piffetti was prolific in his output, predominantly produced as court commissions for the royal palace in Turin and other royal residences in Piedmont. His works are characteristically decorated with inlays of various woods, ivory and mother-of-pearl, which he used lavishly on small objects such as spittoons and spinning wheels (for one in the V&A see W.159-1921), larger pieces such as cabinets and tables, and even in the decoration of whole interior schemes in the royal palace and other court residences. The sinuous form of this mother-of-pearl casket and stand, which rests on a base inlaid with various woods and ivory, is entirely in keeping with the rococo style fashionable at this date. The watery themes of its decoration are similarly rococo: the casket takes the form of a conch shell, the mother-of-pearl resembles fish scales, while the mounts take the form of asymmetrical cartouches, rocaille elements and sea creatures. The casket was almost certainly part of a lottery that took place in November 1779 in Turin, following Piffetti’s death. It may originally have been one of a pair, although as yet no pair has been found.
Bibliographic references
  • Wilk, Christopher. Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., 1996, p.94-95. ISBN: 1856674435
  • Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A Publications, 1999.
  • Jervis, Simon, 'Echoes Over Two Centuries. Two newly acquired Italian tables at the V&A'. Country Life 6 June 1985, pp. 1586-1590.
  • Ferraris, Giancarlo and ed. González-Palacios, Alvar, Pietro Piffetti e gli ebanisti a Torino 1670-1838. Turin: Umberto Allemandi, 1992, cat. 29, pp. 76-77 and p.218, no. 14
  • González-Palacios, Alvar, Il Tempio del Gusto: la Toscana e l'Italia settentrionale: le arti decorativi in Italia fra classicismi e barocco. Milan: Longanesi, 1986, vol I, pp. 382-385
  • Colle, Enrico, Il mobile rococò in Italia: arredi e decorazionid'interni dal 1738 al 1775. Milan: Electa, 2003, cat. 104, pp. 442-3
  • Elizabeth Miller and Hilary Young, eds., The Arts of Living. Europe 1600-1815. V&A Publishing, 2015. ISBN: 978 1 85177 807 2, illustrated p. 127
Collection
Accession number
W.34-1946

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Record createdFebruary 15, 2001
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