Details
Inlaid with naturalistic scrolling foliage and flowers, the top centered by a sunflower and opening to olivewood interior
614 in. (16 cm.) high, 2614 in. (67 cm.) wide, 1714 in. (44 cm.) deep
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Lot Essay

The intensely naturalistic style of marquetry of this casket, clearly influenced by Flemish still-life painting, was almost a universal style in Europe in the second half of the seventeenth century, with similar inlay being produced in London and Paris as well as Antwerp and Florence, although the craftsmen involved were often Flemish in origin (for instance Pierre Gole, who worked for Louis XIV's Gobelins workshops). In the case of this lot, the lack of tortoiseshell in the marquetry and the predominant use of olivewood in the interior points to a Florentine origin.

The naturalistically drawn flowers and acanthus leaves surrounding a sunflower relate this box to the work of the Flemish-born intarsiatore Leonardo van der Vinne, who was active in the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence from 1659 until his death in 1713. The naturalistic marquetry on this box is similar to that found on a table in the Museo degli Argenti in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence, dated 1664, which is securely attributed to Van der Vinne on the basis of the similarities of its marquetry to a cabinet documented as being by him through a bill identifying the maker as 'Leonardo Leonardi fiammingo', see A. M. Massinelli, Il Mobile Toscano, Milan, 1993, pp. 171 and 170, repectively. Van der Vinne, who was perhaps the most celebrated specialist cabinet-maker and inlayer in the Grand Ducal workshops, was also given the name of 'Tarsia' because of his proficiency in this field.

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