Each rectangular top with central Egyptian alabaster panel within a pink-marble banded Sicilian jasper border with black-polished slate moulded edge, the front with foliate frieze with shallow drawer above two further quarter-veneered deep drawers with central octagonal capriccio medallion with beaded mother-of-pearl border inlaid sans traverse, the end panels with conforming quarter-veneered panels, on tapering square section feet, one top numbered '8' in black crayon to underside, one commode with faint pencil numbering to top stretcher and numbered '3' in red crayon to the interior, the other commode similarly numbered in red crayon '6', the tops restored and possibly later
37 in. (94 cm.) high; 48¹⁄₂ in. (123.5 cm.) wide; 23¹⁄₂ in. (60 cm.) deep

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.
This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

These elegant commodes, of restrained neoclassical architectural form and inlaid geometrically using a combination of exotic timbers, are reminiscent of the oeuvre of the renowned cabinet-maker Giusepe Maggiolini (1738-1814) and are perhaps most closely related to the work of the lesser-known but highly accomplished cabinet-maker and intarsiatore Francesco Abbiati (fl. c. 1780-1800), a native of Lombardy who was active in Rome, Naples and Madrid in the late 18th century. In contemporary chronicles (published in Rome in 1787 and 1788 and discussed by Alvar Gonzáles-Palacios, ‘Francesco Abbiati, un lombardo fra Roma e Madrid’, Il Gusto dei Principi, Milan, 1993, vol. I, pp. 350-9, vol. II., pp. 314-30, figs. 625-51, notes 1 and 3) Abbiati’s name was mentioned together with that of Maggiolini and his contemporary designers Albertolli, Levati and Agostino Gerli, whose drawings may well have served as formal designs for the furniture produced by Abbiati.

Very few pieces are known to be definitively by Abbiati, and indeed only four are signed: of those a square table top was sold anonymously at Christie's, New York, 23 November 2010, lot 274 ($60,000 inc. premium) and a table is in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, signed and dated ‘Fran.co Abbiati, 179(?)’ (G. Wilson & C. Hess, Summary Catalogue of European Decorative Arts in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2001, pp. 210-211). A further dressing-table and bureau-cabinet, both unsigned, have been attributed to Abbiati by Mario Tavella based on stylistic similarities with the Getty table and identification of the printed sources on which their pictorial marquetry panels are based (M. Tavella, ‘Additions to the Oeuvre of Francesco Abbiati’, Journal of the Furniture History Society, vol. XXXVIII, 2002, pp. 97-107); the dressing-table was sold from the collection of Ana Maria Espirito Santo Burstorff Silva, Christie’s, London, 29 April 2015, lot 115 (£50,000 including premium).

It is documented that Abiatti produced lavishly inlaid chests of drawers as well as tables of high quality, characterised by sliding fall-fronts and concealed compartments although, unfortunately, no examples of these have yet been identified. A commode of the same overall form as this pair, though with marquetry top as opposed to marble, and more elaborately inlaid overall, has also been attributed to Abbiati (sold Sotheby’s, London, 10 June 1998, lot 58, £73,000 inc. premium). The latter commode, with leaf-capped tapering square feet and leafy borders overall, displays uprights inlaid with classical ornament, putti and foliage, which are closely related to the uprights of the present commodes, with their Greek ‘athenienne’ perfume burners, vases and foliage. The egg-and-dart inlaid cornice and leafy borders to the central panel and framing the drawers of these commodes are reminiscent of those to the top and frieze of the signed table in the Getty.