Italian, Venice - Desk with Two Side Cabinets (Scrivania con due mobili da appoggio), second half of the 18th century

Italian, Venice

Desk with Two Side Cabinets (Scrivania con due mobili da appoggio), second half of the 18th century

Painted walnut and pine

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Object details

Accession number

F11n17.a-e

Primary Creator

Italian, Venice

Full title

Desk with Two Side Cabinets (Scrivania con due mobili da appoggio)

Creation Date

second half of the 18th century

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.

Display Media

Painted walnut and pine

Dimension Notes

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.)

Web 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.

Permanent Gallery Location

Macknight Room

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.

Rights and reproductions

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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.