AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND PIETRA DURA INLAID CABINET Florence, 17th Century, of architectural form with a moulded breakfront cornice above an arrangement of eight drawers flanking a central architectural aedicule formed by a pair of stop fluted, fior di pesco marble columns with ormolu composite capitals supporting a pair of ormolu urns, with a cupboard door to the centre enclosing three drawers and five further secret compartments, with a concealed drawer above and below; the cupboard and double paneled drawer fronts inset with town scenes in pietra paesina and pietra dura, a moulded base supported by four double lion-cast feet; on a modern ebonised stand. Cabinet: Height 85cm, Width 148cm, Depth 45cm; Including stand: Height 185cm, Width 152cm, Depth 54cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Margaret B. Nichols Christie's New York, 500 Years: Decorative Arts Europe, Including Oriental Carpets, 22 October 2010, lot 633 acquired from the above OTHER NOTES: Today the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one of the most prominent art museums in Europe, however, when it was first established in 1560 it housed the central administration of the Medici government and a variety of workshops highlighting Tuscan industry known as the Medici Grand-Ducal workshops. It was in the Uffizi in 1588 that Grand Duke Ferdinando I established the Galleria de' Lavori, where he hired and trained local craftsmen to restore ancient carved-stone objects and create original works of art. These artists perfected the process of pietra dura which involved finely cutting pieces of semi-precious stone selected for their colour, opacity, brilliance and grain to piece together interlocking imagery that produced an elaborate pictorial effect often referred to as "painting in stone". These panels were frequently used to adorn custom-made pieces of furniture, decorative arts and buildings, notably the Cappella dei Principi in the Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence. By the 1700s pietra dura became increasingly fashionable and the artisans trained in the workshop travelled all throughout Europe to work for noble and royal households who commissioned elaborate pieces. Pictorial pietra dura panels also often incorporated pietra paesina, a rare type of stone mined in the Arno area of Italy for its natural colour and graining which can be used to resemble mountainous landscapes. The current lot is a superb example of the refined craftmanship of the Galleria de' Lavori with its panels of pietra dura and pietra paesina depicting various scenes of Italian towns and landscapes, fitted to an ebony and ormolu-mounted cabinet. It is possible that these panels were originally assembled by a wealthy patron whilst undertaking the Grand Tour and the cabinet was then commissioned to display them. Such cabinets fulfilled dual functions; both as a 'cabinet of curiosities' in which special or interesting items were kept and as a statement piece of furniture to demonstrate the refined learning and wealth of the cabinet's owner. Renamed the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in the mid-1800's, the workshop continues to operate today as a state-supported institution. Similar cabinets are held by important institutions around the world such the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, and Chirk Castle, Wrexham. Madeleine Norton | Decorative Arts & Fine Art Specialist