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PROPERTY OF A LADY A SOUTH ITALIAN NEOCLASSIC MAHOGANY CONSOLE TABLE AFTER A DESIGN BY PELAGIO PALAG

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
PROPERTY OF A LADY A SOUTH ITALIAN NEOCLASSIC MAHOGANY CONSOLE TABLE AFTER A DESIGN BY PELAGIO PALAG
property of a lady A SOUTH ITALIAN NEOCLASSIC MAHOGANY CONSOLE TABLE After a design by Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860), probably Sicily, circa 1830 The rectangular fossilized black marble top above a blank frieze supported to the front by two seated whippets with gadrooned and foliate-sheathed capitals and to the rear by two pilasters, on a rectangular base with inswept front and bun feet 401?4 x 61 x 235?8 in. (102.5 x 155 x 60 cm) $8,000-12,000 It is possible to date the present table and to identify its designer and probably its place of production because of the existence of two other tables with similar features. (Enrico Colle, Il Mobile Impero in Italia, Milan, 1998, no. 17, pp. 72-73.) Both tables are believed to have been made in Sicily between 1830-1840. The first is virtually identical in form and ornament, although the supports are in the form of griffins (Museo Mandralisca, Cefal_, Sicily). The second is a larger center table with virtually identical whippet supports (Private Collection). A drawing by Pelagio Palagi of a seated whippet intended as a design for a support of a table is in the Biblioteca Communale dell’Archiginnasio, Bologna (Inv. No. 2782/101) (Ibid.). Palagi was perhaps most successful as a versatile draughtsman, decorator of interiors and furniture designer. The largest collection of his designs (Bologna, Bib. Com. Archiginnasio) includes highly refined drawings of furniture, utilitarian objects, figure studies and portraits, together with accomplished preparatory drawings for historical and literary compositions. Palagi has been called the last great ornamentalist because he designed entire interiors, paying scrupulous attention to all aspects to create a decorative unity. Although he designed objects in many styles characteristic of his eclectic century, the influence of the sumptuous Bolognese Baroque school underlies much of his work. Many of his designs are grafted on to strong Neo-classical roots that reveal a wide knowledge of his predecessors, from Robert Adam to Charles Percier. His furniture shows an exuberance of sculptural, decorative inlay characteristic of the Italian tradition, particularly of the Emilian school, and represents some of the finest examples of mid-19th century Italian craftsmanship. Palagi was fascinated by the past and enriched his paintings with historical objects and interiors. He was a passionate collector of objects from all periods— Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, Islamic, Pre-Columbian and medieval—which he bequeathed to the city of Bologna (Mus. Civ.). In 1843 he began a collection of coins, which eventually amounted to over 26,000 pieces, while his impressive collection of Greek vases included works by Douris and Nikosthenes. His library of some 4,200 volumes is now in the Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio, Bologna, and reveals his taste for historical and archaeological books and works documenting the Gothic Revival and exotic travels.