Two old chests

Two early-outs tell their story.

The passion and the pleasure to observe the small details of a piece of furniture, seemingly insignificant, but able to slowly reappear in front of us the story of that object, usually share the restorers and fascinates lovers of antiquity. It's a fascinating research because they always full of questions and mysteries: it has the feeling of having read a particular more than the location of the object in question, but without ever getting to know him completely.
Leaves often room for imagination: who commissioned the work?
Where was located?
That contained objects?
Why has changed owner?

I wanted to try to enjoy this game telling you about the working path of study and comparison of two drawers that offer for sale during the October antiques.

The case is particularly interesting: it's two outs piemontesi, purchased from the same family, with similar characteristics, but different details that differentiate them then substantially in value.
Both have four front drawers drawers moved with ebonized instruments, according to the taste of the early eighteenth century.

The first drawer, as you can see from the picture, is complete with properly with olive and Walnut oils. The Commission was supposed to be important, since lastronatura is the entire surface of the mobile and uses the olive tree as root with the walnut essence posted to toppo to form decorative threads; looking carefully you will notice that even the pilasters are slabs and the stringers of the drawers are even with olive trees.

The design of the front and move the building, typical of the region, we warn that we are in the presence of a piece of furniture. The skeleton of the Cabinet is constructed from thick poplar planks more than two centimetres, the Fund has joined to the sides by means of a half-half joint held by big nails, while the stringers are inserted dovetail; the whole thing was then hidden with lastronatura. A typical feature is also found in decorum that we find in the hips, with a windrose submitted simple scrolling.

However the decoration of furniture is not so rich to place it in a band of exceptional quality furniture: because threads are relatively simple, sober and elegant.
Observing carefully the drawer, check out remo also of changes or corrections or restorations carried out in the course of its two centuries of history.

The feet, the most delicate of mobile, as well as being partly damaged, have undergone grafting media replacements in the structure. We can also verify the replacement backrest, which, besides being incongruentemente fir wood, presents, seen from the inside, clear signs of mechanical Planer appeared only in the early 1900s.

The main change concerns the chest; at first, you may notice two meeting of any discrepancies: the first is that the slab is not the movements and heaves that should've taken over time, the second is that the plan is decidedly less decorated hips, whereas normally it did exactly the opposite.

Intrigued by these observations, for closer examination, we find that the solid walnut table is Yes, but there are signs of a different usage at the bottom (among other things would have to be in Aspen), and that the upper lastronatura is too thin in thickness to be 18th century.

We can thus assume that the drawer, born with a marble floor, have been fitted out to taste success.

To confirm this hypothesis, we find the signature of the change under cover, where it is engraved "Boncio years 1927 Turin".

We reconstructed the story so far of the Cabinet or at least a part, and now? Rebuilding the floor with a marble, the mobile would return to its original structure, perhaps, but would lose a piece of its history. I leave these thoughts philological experts on what is ethical to do on a piece of furniture so old and I'm happy I amused in his analysis.
But we come to the second drawer.

This is a piece of furniture designed to be structurally important and merit: the whole structure is made of solid walnut and the inlays are too directly into solid wood. The commissioning was important and rich due to the materials used and the choice of a cabinet-maker definitely prepared on decorative techniques and fashions of the era: it was certainly not a Carpenter. For this reason, our expert places the construction of mobile directly in Turin.

The plan is a single solid axle nut socket from the heart of a large plant, four inches thick so as not to undergo movements, combined with mullions and transoms furniture skeleton through dovetail joints. The Fund and the backrest in solid poplar have joined the mobile, as seen in the other drawer, with a half-half joint and the help of nails; these parts are of considerable size and there we see the signs of the sgrossino that was used to trim the boards cut that did not need sanding because hidden.

The same construction technique found in the drawers where the poplar tree is joined at the front by the famous Walnut dovetail joints. The front Drawer is moved directly carved in Walnut planks. Mobile born to be robust, had no need of replacements or interventions, and this led to us perfectly intact, with the exception of a split reincollata on the front of a drawer.

Also in the decorative Maple inlay executed too not only reflects the canons Piedmontese, decorative but is made with great care in the execution: it is inserted with solid precision; the draughtsman created figures are complex in swirls, and precise in fine bouquet of roses called "bouquet", typical decor.

So the dowels, which go to form the petals and the volutes, are not only etched, but to better mark the boundaries, ebanista has used the technique of shadow through the hot sand. Plan and profile of the drawers to "dark lip" ebonized instruments enhance the harmony and elegance of the furniture.
Even the locks are originals.

We are therefore faced with a really special piece. We should not forget that experience shows that it is really an exception that antique furniture has never undergone any surgery. And then, more careful examination, we find that, in addition to the drawer repair we mentioned, we find traces of restoration at the bottom and some inlays. It is likely that even polishing has been shooting through the centuries, although it seems certain that the Cabinet has never been spatinato.

The only significant intervention he handles and escutcheons which, although correct, period have been replaced, as you can verify by looking at corrections into the hole of the Jet nozzles, made to fit the original locks; In addition there are drawers of round patches to close holes that suggest that the chest bring the typical Pine Cone pendant.

I will finish this long and passionate description clearly point out that these tests were born thanks to the comparison with many colleagues and especially our cooperation expert Vittorio Dora, whom I thank.