Object details
Accession number
F26w5
Primary Creator
Italian, Central Italy
Full title
Commode (Comò)
Creation Date
mid 18th century
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the antiques dealers Moisè Dalla Torre and Co., Venice on 29 September 1906 for 230 lire.
Dimensions
83.7 x 112.6 x 50.7 cm (32 15/16 x 44 5/16 x 19 15/16 in.)
Display Media
Painted poplar
Web Commentary
This two drawer-cassetone has a bowed front, shaped aprons, and curved legs: a simple rendition of a Rococo form. The decoration of the piece in imitation of Chinese lacquer is more impressive. On the front are horsemen and trees surrounding a lake with small boats. Similar scenes are painted on the sides. The painted surfaces have been heavily worn, and most of the upper drawer has been repainted, making it difficult to judge the original decoration of the piece, except on the sides, which are better preserved.
The iron locks are original, but the back panel was replaced in the nineteenth century.
Permanent Gallery Location
Titian Room
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston: 1935), pp. 213-14. (Venice, 18th century)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston: 2011), p. 262, no. 123.
Rights and reproductions
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