LOT Phillips de Pury & Company  /  THE JOHN HOBBS COLLECTION OF ENGLISH & CONT...  / 

5

A NORTH ITALIAN ROCOCO GILTWOOD CONSOLE TABLE In the manner of Giacomo Filippo Parodi (1...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
A NORTH ITALIAN ROCOCO GILTWOOD CONSOLE TABLE In the manner of Giacomo Filippo Parodi (1...
A NORTH ITALIAN ROCOCO GILTWOOD CONSOLE TABLE

In the manner of Giacomo Filippo Parodi (1630-1702), Genoa, the base circa 1700, the top late 19th century The shaped purple velvet-covered top with a quarter circle molded edge, on a base depicting a rampant lion seated on rockwork flanked by satyrs kneeling on a pillow with braided edge and tassled corners 37 X 641/2 X 26 IN. (94 X 164 X 67 CM)

$25,000-35,000

Provenance Count Volpi di Misurata, Palazzo Volpi, Rome (sold Sotheby's London, December 16, 1998, lot 19).

Satyrs, lions and rocks are also used in the decoration on some of the furniture attributed to the Genoese sculptor Parodi at the Villa Durazzo (Albisola) and at the Palazzo del Principe, Genoa; there are also lions on the mirror Brignole Sale, Galleria Palazzo Rosso, Genoa executed by Parodi (Alvar González-Palacios, Il mobile in Liguria. Genoa, 1996, p. 74, pls. 81-82, p. 82, pls. 88-90, p. 106, pl. 126, and p. 107, pl. 127). A reggilume, one of six similar examples, in the form of a satyr with dramatically positioned arms, as on the present console, atop a rocky perch is in the Palazzo Rosso, Genoa (Enrico Colle, Il mobile barocca in Italia. Milan, 2000, no. 55, pp. 226-27). A pen, ink, and wash study executed in the spirit of Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732) for a table supported by two satyrs is in the Civico Museo, Belluno (Clelia Alberici, Il mobilie veneto. Milan, 1980, p. 84, fig. 246). A set of four consoles attributed by Gonzales-Palacios (op. cit., pp. 91-92, fig. 94) to the workshop of Parodi (three in the apartment of Madama Felicita, Palazzo Reale, Turin and one sold Semenzato, Venice, June 1992, lot 155) based on the resemblance of their tritons to those on the torchères by Parodi at the Palazzo del Principe, Genoa, are reminiscent of the present console. Each features a large shell flanked by tritons, flanked by putti, all entwined with grape vines on a shaped rocky base (op. cit., no. 53, pp. 222-23).

THE COUNT AND COUNTESS VOLPI DI MISURATA AND THE PALAZZO VOLPI, ROME Built in the late 17th century by the architect Alessandro Specchi (1668-1729), whose work included revolutionary designs for Rome's famous Spanish Steps, and located at 21 via del Quirinale, the Palazzo Volpi was indeed a grand residence. Across a narrow street stands the Quirinale "Palazzina," where the Pope would spend the summer before the Kings of Italy lived there, and which is now the home and private office of Italy's president. The Palazzo Volpi overlooks the once royal gardens and then, in the distance, over Rome, with 15,000 square feet of spectacular terraces spreading from its first to fifth floors.

It would be an understatement to say that the late Count Volpi di Misurata, diplomat, politician and Italy's leading industrialist, lived well, for his palace, during most of the 20th century, was the ultimate in splendor. Sadly, Palazzo Volpi was plundered by the Germans in 1943. While some of its valuable contents were stored in Venice and therefore remained unharmed, the building's magnificent interiors were seriously damaged. The Palazzo was saved, however, by Countess Volpi in 1951 when she completely refurbished and redecorated it with a sense of style that became synonymous with her name. A pillar of society in both Rome and Venice, Nathalie (Lily) Volpi's efforts at saving fine buildings did not stop with the Roman palace. She also renovated with tremendous talent the family's home on the Grand Canal, transforming it into the liveliest palazzo in town, and a house on the Giudecca, the Ca'Leone. Inside, important 18th-century furniture rubs shoulders with the work of Alberto Giacometti. Lily Volpi was also famous for the quality and style of her entertainment. Among those who visited her palazzo in Venice were kings and queens, Jean Cocteau, Winston Churchill (who painted extensively from the balconies in 1951), HRH The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Cole Porter, the Mitfords, Cecil Beaton, Orson Welles, Duff Cooper, Maria Callas and Elsa Maxwell. Balls were held annually from 1950 to 1963, and from time to time thereafter. The present console, held in storage, unseen for the twenty-five years preceeding its initial sale in 1998, is indicative of the beauty with which Count and Countess Volpi di Misurata liked to surround themselves, a lifestyle that drew admiration from their friends and acquaintances on both sides of the Atlantic
Sign In to Bookmark Lot