to the Salon of Two
17th Century
Italian Chests

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Italian 'Adige' Chest, Item 184 followed by a detail from underneath the lid Artist unknown, circa 1650 Pyrography and carving on cedar 65 cm high by 187.5 cm wide by 63 cm deep.

Italian 'Adige' Chest, Item 183 followed by a detail from underneath the lid Artist unknown, circa 1650 Pyrography and carving on cedar chest with ebony, 64 cm high by 188 cm wide by 75 cm deep. Both examples adapted from a Sotheby's catalogue, Olympia, London, 2004, pp. 118–120.

Two Italian chests are exhibited here, both said to be 'Adige' chests, presumably from the northeastern region of Italy where the Adige River flows from the Alps to the Adriatic. They were sold at auction through Sotheby's in 2004.

It is interesting that, although these are Italian, and others exhibited in the E-Museum's Seventeenth Century section are not, they are all similar in terms of their decorative design layout, including a mixture of geometric patterns and pictorial pyrography.

The interior of the hinged lid of the first chest above is said to be "decorated ... with soldiers, mythical creatures, and foliage." One of the soldiers is shown in the second image.

The second chest displayed shows a second image with a view of the underside of the lid, which is said to be "decorated with three scenes from the Book of Genesis and with a similarly decorated lidded till." Both chests are noted to have "some losses, faults and restorations."

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If you have any information to offer regarding these rare 17th C. Italian Chests, please e-mail
the E-Museum Curator.

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Two 17th C. Italian Chests
Described in a Sotheby's auction catalogue

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