Important and rare neoclassical half-moon console table in carved, lacquered, and gilded wood, Turin, attributed to Francesco Bolgiè, late 18th century Dimensions: cm H 92 x W 130 x D 66 Price: private negotiation Item accompanied by a certificate of authenticity This precious and refined console table was made in neoclassical Turin towards the end of the 18th century. Elegantly sculpted according to the canons of high Turin cabinetmaking, it shows evident stylistic similarities to the works of Francesco Bolgiè. The architectural structure of the console as a whole and, even more so, in some details, such as the slender curls, the acanthus leaves, the leonine heads, are characteristic of the master sculptor's works. Half-moon shaped, it has a green Alpi marble top with a molded profile. The undertop band is delimited above by a gilded wooden frame carved with foliage motifs and a smooth lower reserve, while below the smooth gilded wooden reserve is followed by a frame carved with a hemispherical motif. The central band is in lacquered wood with very refined carvings in the shape of curls and phytomorphic elements in a classicizing style. The tone of the lacquer, bluish-grey, is characteristic of the Piedmont area, chosen for furnishings but also in historic buildings. Near the four legs, the band is decorated with high-relief gilded wood sculptures depicting leonine heads that support with their jaws elegant drapes that fall gently downwards. In the center of the band is instead carved a large flower with a circular corolla to which the draperies converge, intertwining. The four legs originate from a light blue lacquered wooden capital with circular gilded decorations. The legs then feature a rich carving in the shape of gilded acanthus leaves from which the inverted truncated cone shaft departs, lacquered and gilded in the grooves. At the bottom, again carvings with acanthus leaves and a circular foot with a lacquered and gilded wooden tip conclude the legs. The artistic personality of the "Royal wood sculptor" Francesco Bolgiè (Turin 1752-1834) is at the top of Turin wood sculpture in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and in the first decades of the nineteenth century and has played a very important role in neoclassical decorative wood sculpture. An artist of equal caliber to that of Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo, he remained in the shadows for a long time. Many of his works were in fact attributed to Bonzanigo on the basis of stylistic comparisons, in the absence of accurate archival research. The corpus of archival documents found has allowed, in recent years, to outline the figure of this important sculptor carver, reconstructing his life and allowing to return to his catalog several works, many of which are still preserved at the Royal Palace of Turin and at the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, others in famous private collections.
Period: Second half of the 18th century