Object details
Object number
F11n17.a-e
Creator(s)
Italian, Venice
Title
Desk with Two Side Cabinets (Scrivania con due mobili da appoggio)
Date
1750-1799
Medium
Painted walnut and pine
Additional Dimensions
Desk: 72 x 89.1 x 43.4 cm (28 3/8 x 35 1/16 x 17 1/16 in.)
Right cabinet: 72.2 x 30.5 x 28.8 cm (28 7/16 x 12 x 11 5/16 in.)
Left cabinet: 72.2 x 33.6 x 30.8 cm (28 7/16 x 13 1/4 x 12 1/8 in.)
Provenance
Probably purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner's husband, John L. Gardner, Jr. (1837–1898), from the dealer Domenico Lorenzetti, Venice on 6 September 1892 for 150 lire.
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner used the Macknight Room as her personal study, and this was her desk. She kept a treasure trove of collectibles and memorabilia inside.
This type of small desk with associated side cabinets was common amongst the furnishings of Italian country villas in the Veneto in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The delicate palette and diminutive size, suggest that it was made for a woman or child.
Isabella's husband, Jack Gardner, purchased this desk for her in Venice on one of their many trips to the lagoon city.
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 70. (19th century)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), pp. 80-81, no. 19.
Gallery
Macknight Room
Rights and reproductions
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