Stipo; Northern Italy, c. 1880.

Stipo; Northern Italy, c. 1880.
Ebonized wood, bone inlays, lapis lazuli, agate, rosewood drawers and interior. Copper.
Has been restored.
Measurements: 170 x 104 x 53 cm.
With a distinctly historicist character, this elegant Italian stipo is an extraordinary example of the trend toward reviving the grand decorative styles of the Italian tradition. Its design brings together in a single piece the richness of cabinetmaking, marquetry, and the sumptuous arts, evoking the splendor of Renaissance and Baroque interiors. Crafted from ebonized wood, it features lavish marquetry and bone inlay, combined with inlays of semi-precious stones—including lapis lazuli and agate—as well as delicate copper details. The hallmarks of the dark wood surfaces and the intense colors of the stones create an effect of extraordinary visual richness, enhanced by the precision of the ornamental motifs.The structure is organized around a large hinged lid, behind which lies an interior carefully compartmentalized by drawers and small storage spaces made of rosewood. The piece is completed by a central body and an elaborate upper gallery, which accentuates its architectural and monumental character.

One of the most striking elements is found on the inside of the lid, where Annibale Carracci’s “Port of Aquila” is depicted, taken from the famous decorative program of the Farnese Gallery in Rome. The incorporation of this pictorial motif transforms the piece into more than just a piece of furniture: it establishes a deliberate dialogue with the great Italian artistic tradition and with some of the fundamental landmarks of Baroque painting. This type of repertoire reflects the 19th-century historicist taste for recovering, reinterpreting, and combining models from different periods of Italian art history. Painting, architecture, and the decorative arts thus converge in a piece conceived as a true representational object, where each surface offers a new ornamental reference.