A SOUTH GERMAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PIETRA DURA, PEWTER AND BONE-INLAID EBONY, ROSEWOOD AND TORTOISESHELL CABINET-ON-STAND

Splendid ebony cabinets such as this example, elaborately conceived to display costly pietra dura panels depicting birds, flowers and florentine landscapes, were mainly produced in Florence but favoured by a growing population of wealthy patrons and princely rulers across Europe in the 17th century, and particularly in Germany. The precious trompe l'oeil mosaics of marbles and hardstones epitomise the princely magnificence of the Opificio delle pietre dure founded in 1588 by Grand Duke Ferdinand I de Medici, while their never-fading flowers evoke the Arcadian concept of perpetual spring or 'Ver perpetuum'.

In Germany, pietra dura panels were acquired either directly from Florence by agents such as Hainhofer or traded at luxury fairs in centers such as Frankfurt or Leipzig and would often then be incorporated into tables or cabinets made by German craftsmen. Augsburg, with its famous tradition of skilled craftsmen in precious metals and sculpture, became a particular center for this production, and the princely rulers of Bavaria had a pronounced predilection for pietre dure.