A NORTH ITALIAN POLYCHROME-DECORATED COMMODE

With its delicate, lush floral painted decoration this commode is a characteristic example of late 18th Century Venetian furniture. Lacquer wares in Venice as well as in Genoa differed from other European centers which strictly imitated oriental and chinoiserie lacquer. In Italy, the depentori decorated their lacquer with their own adaptations, often leaving little oriental influence to their production. This style was at its apogee in the 18th Century, and the best examples still visible today are probably the rooms of the Palazzo Ca' Rezzonico, Venice which include a related commode illustrated in S.Levy, Lacche Veneziane Settecentesche, Milan, 1967, pl.97