Capital of carved walnut, by Giuseppe Biraghi, Venice, copying one in the ducal palace of Urbino. Italian, 1884

A capital from a pilaster, carved in walnut, the scrolling Ionic top supported on either side by curving female figures, with wings, emerging like mermaids from acanthus scrolls, their arms upraised and grasping the scroll of the capital and swags of fruit. In the centre at the top, between their wings, is a basket of fruit.

This capital is part of a group of wood carvings by Giuseppe Biraghi of Venice, the others being the side of a chimney piece, copied from one in the Ducal Palace in Venice, a candelabrum and a panel. This capital is said to have been based on an original in the Ducal Palace at Urbino.

The carvings were ordered from Biraghi in 1884 on behalf of the Department of Science and Art, then responsible for the South Kensington Museum, by Sir Henry Layard, an archaeologist and diplomat, who had retired to Venice in 1874. Although Layard originally had authority to pay £50 for examples of carving from local workshops with which he was familiar the final payment was adjusted to £60 to cover the costs of Biraghi's work.

After inspection by Thomas Armstrong, Director for Art at the South Kensington Museum, and his deputy, Richard Thompson, all four examples of Biraghi's carving were sent to the Bethnal Green Museum in East London. From 1880 this had been used for displays of modern objects, including furniture and woodwork. Many small furniture workshops were situated in the same area and Biraghi's carvings may have originally been ordered to show local craftsmen examples of highly fashionable Renaissance revival woodwork for them to use as inspiration.

Purcahsed directly by the Museum

When the Museum was founded, in the middle of the nineteenth century, carving was one of the woodworking skills that was most admired. The early curators set about collecting contemporary examples of carving, to provide excellent examples for the students of the Government School of Design (the forerunner of the Royal College of Art) and for young, working carvers. Pieces such as this, which replicated Italian work of the most admired Renaissance period, were doubly useful. This capital illustrates not only the design of a noted Italian building (the ducal palace at Urbino) but also the quality of carving needed to create such a design successfully.

1118-1884