Palais Carrega Cataldi, Genoa;

Collection Capozzi, Genoa.

RELATED LITERATURE

G. Morazzoni, Il mobile genovese, Milan, 1949.

L. Canonero, Barocchetto genovese, Milan, 1962.

E. Baccheschi, Mobili Genovesi, Milan, 1962.

G. Mariacher, Lampade e lampadari in Italia dal Quattrocento all'Ottocento, Milan, 1981.

These magnificent appliques echo the decorative style of sumptuous Genovese interiors like the Galleria Dorata of the Palazzo Carrega Cataldi, and their corner-shaped backs are give them highly innovative and unusual form.

The bold carving of these appliques has a clearly Genovese flair, and would have been a bespoke creation that was designed and commissioned as part of an integrated decorative scheme for a sumptuous mid-eighteenth-century palazzo or villa. In these grand interi⛎ors, elaborately-carved mirrors, girandoles and frames would have harmonised with the wooden panelling (‘boiseries’), carved fixtures, and e♔ven the carving on wooden furniture, creating an immersive aesthetic experience. One of the most notable and well-documented examples of this type of Genovan interior is the splendid Galleria Dorata of the Palazzo Carrega Cataldi. The furniture from this room, one of the most significant Italian Rococo interiors ever created, have since been dispersed; while several pieces are in private collections, examples can be seen in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum (1991.307a, b) the Toledo Museum of Art (1978.30 and 1978.31). A pair of settees from the Galleria Dorata sold at Sotheby's London, 2011, lot 14 at a record price off £1,721,250.

With fluid, scrolled carving enclosing various small plates, the mirrored surfaces in this model appear to be intended to amplify the visual effect of candlelight rather than to provide a practical reflection. These appliques originally incorporated candle arms that are now lost. A popular form not only in Italy but across Europe, the girandole was a decorative way to easily amplify the light of candles throuᩚᩚ🅘ᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚgh reflection – depending on the placement of the original arms, it is highly likely the two right-angled mirror surfaces of this model would have mutually reflected each other, creating the striking effect of an infinite series of glimmering candles.

The unusual right-angled back of these appliques suggests that they were used in the corners of a room,🌃 an intended purpose that makes it highly likely that the mirrors were originally created as a set of four. Generally, furniture for corners is far less common than pieces conceived with flat backs, though girandoles for the corner of a room make practical sense –after all, the usual placement of chandeliers, wall lights and candlesticks will have generally made these the ﷽darkest part of any large room.

While similarly-carved Genovese appliques and girandoles can be seen in A González-Palacios, Il Mobile in Liguria, Genoa, 1996, p.175, fig. 206 and E. Colle, Il Mobile Barocco in Italia, Milan, 2003, p.274, the func🌱tion and form of the present pair make them di🌄stinctive and highly rare.