A pair of Italian pietra dure plaques - image-1

Lot 853 Dα

A pair of Italian pietra dure plaques

Auction 1184 - overview Cologne
19.11.2021, 11:00 - Decorative Arts
Estimate: 7.000 € - 10.000 €

A pair of Italian pietra dure plaques

One plaque with pietra paesina (ruin marble), the other with a depiction of a panther in pietra dure, including a rare stone resembling the mottled pelt of a panther. The depiction presumably based on a motif by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527 – 1593). In later “rosso antico“ marble surrounds on ebonised wood plaques. The ruin marble with cracks. H 18.5, W 25 and 22 cm.
Italy, attributed to Tuscany / Florence, 19th C.

These plaques not only served as souvenirs for visitors of the Grand Tour, but could also be used as panels in magnificent cabinets such as the example in the museum at Wetzlar.

Literature

Cf. Koeppe, Die Lemmers-Danforth-Sammlung Wetzlar. Europäische Wohnkultur aus Renaissance und Barock, Heidelberg 1992, no. M 138, for an Augsburg cabinet with similar ruin marble fillings.