AN ITALIAN PIETRA DURA PAPERWEIGHT
Date - probably late 19th century
Dimensions - 67mm x 98mm x 15mm
Well its almost the end of the month again and time to choose another piece for my Italian object series. This time I've selected a small paperweight I purchased at the Arezzo antiques fair a few months ago. Its a simple but attractive thing made from a small slab of a polished black hardstone which has been inlaid with other coloured stones in the overall form of a cross. As well as having a devotional, christian purpose it functioned as a heavy weight to hold down papers on a desk. It might have been made in Florence or Rome in the late 19th century as a tourist souvenir but I'm not absolutely sure. What I do know however is that I treasure it as the only example I have of the Italian technique known as "pietra dura" which translated in to English means "hard stone".
The technique involves the inlaying or laying down on a flat surface of pieces of coloured, polished stone selected for their decorative properties to create patterns or images. In wood work the technique would be called marquetry. Typically the designs were and are today created on a flat surface, though sometimes the pieces of pietra dura might have a low relief effect to the overall design. Marbles and semi-precious stones are used to create the designs and the stones are selected, sliced and polished for their decorative qualities and pieces chosen to perform particular functions in a design.
In the best examples the craftsman would selected stones not just for colour but also for their subtle gradations of colour and pattern so they could be used to imitate for example feathers in a bird or shading on a flower petal.
My little paperweight has 20 pieces of coloured stone inlaid in to the piece of black marble which I've identified as probably being "nero antico".
White Carrara marble 5 pieces
Malachite 3 pieces
Lapis lazuli 1 piece
Rosso antico (deep red) 2 pieces
Bardiglio (grey marble) 1 piece
Giallo di Siena (yellow) 3 pieces
Other 5 pieces
There's nothing of any great quality here - these are surely small chips of polished stone perhaps left over from the making of a larger and more complex item, but on detailed inspection the colours and patterns of the pieces of stone are pleasing to the eye and one or two rarities as well. The main source of lapis lazuli has always been Afghanistan and its always been expensive. In Renaissance painting the blue pigment used by painters came from this mineral and was always reserved for items like the clothing of the virgin!
The complex and difficult technique of pietra dura was used by the Romans in architecural settings for floor and wall decoration in both decorative pattern and figurative work. The technique never completely died out after the fall of Rome and in the Middle Ages it was used in church floor decoration and for the ornamentation of tombs and altars. Again in the Byzantine civilisation it was used to craft floor decorations.
Not surprisingly it attracted the attention of humanists in Renaissance Italy and it was revived there in the 16th century in Rome and Florence. It was the Medici Duke - Ferdinand I of Tuscany who founded in Florence the Galleria di 'Lavori which was given the specific task of producing luxury objects incorporating pietra dura designs for members of the Medici family. Table tops made from pietra dura were especially popular - similar to this example below which was sold at Christie's in New York in 2001 I think it was. This example however, though in the style of the 16th century, was made in the late 20th century. It sold for 23.5 thousand dollars I believe.
Interestingly one of the finest and most expensive pieces of furniture ever made concerns the pietra dura workshops in Renaissance Florence. The so called "Badminton Cabinet" was commissioned by His Grace the Duke of Beaufort from the Medici owned Galleria di' Llavori in Florence during a Grand Tour visit he made to the works in 1726. Standing at almost 4 metres tall it incorporates many decorative pietra dura panels into its design and construction. Not completed until 1732 it was then shipped to England and taken to the Duke's country seat at Badminton in Wiltshire. It was sold by Christie's in London in 1990 for 8.5 million pounds and again by them in 2004 for 19 million pounds. On both occasions the price realised was a world record price for a piece of furniture sold at auction. It is now in a museum in Vienna.
Though the Badminton Cabinet was the last great work of art made in Florence under the Medici the workshops continued to produce major pieces in to the 17th century and it wasn't until the 20th century that the fashion for pietra dura went in to serious decline with the onset of modernism. Pietra dura is still made in Florence and there are one or two shops there near the Duomo selling nice examples of it. Look for pieces at antique fairs and flea markets and pietra dura brooches and pins make nice presents.
Next time you are in Florence go see the Opificio delle pietra dura - the museum housed in a period building in a street round the corner from the Accademia. It has a splendid collection of pietra dura items from all periods and a good display of the materials and techniques involved in the making of it.
Oh and Monica T Price's book - DECORATIVE STONE - THE COMPLETE SOURCE BOOK, London 2007 - is a must if you want to identify decorative stones from round the world.
Ciao & KBO
Ian
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"It is only when you get home that you discover you were actually in the area, the street, the church that housed a city's greatest treasure."
Pam Brown b1928.
Date - probably late 19th century
Dimensions - 67mm x 98mm x 15mm
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| MY ITALIAN PIETRA DURA PAPERWEIGHT |
The technique involves the inlaying or laying down on a flat surface of pieces of coloured, polished stone selected for their decorative properties to create patterns or images. In wood work the technique would be called marquetry. Typically the designs were and are today created on a flat surface, though sometimes the pieces of pietra dura might have a low relief effect to the overall design. Marbles and semi-precious stones are used to create the designs and the stones are selected, sliced and polished for their decorative qualities and pieces chosen to perform particular functions in a design.
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| HARDSTONE PEBBLES SUITABLE FOR CUTTING AND POLISHING |
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| A TYPICAL SMALL PIETRA DURA OVAL PANEL OF FRUITS, FLOWERS AND LEAVES |
White Carrara marble 5 pieces
Malachite 3 pieces
Lapis lazuli 1 piece
Rosso antico (deep red) 2 pieces
Bardiglio (grey marble) 1 piece
Giallo di Siena (yellow) 3 pieces
Other 5 pieces
 |
| 20 PIECES OF INLAID POLISHED STONE HAVE BEEN USED TO CREATE THE DESIGN OF A CROSS |
The complex and difficult technique of pietra dura was used by the Romans in architecural settings for floor and wall decoration in both decorative pattern and figurative work. The technique never completely died out after the fall of Rome and in the Middle Ages it was used in church floor decoration and for the ornamentation of tombs and altars. Again in the Byzantine civilisation it was used to craft floor decorations.
Not surprisingly it attracted the attention of humanists in Renaissance Italy and it was revived there in the 16th century in Rome and Florence. It was the Medici Duke - Ferdinand I of Tuscany who founded in Florence the Galleria di 'Lavori which was given the specific task of producing luxury objects incorporating pietra dura designs for members of the Medici family. Table tops made from pietra dura were especially popular - similar to this example below which was sold at Christie's in New York in 2001 I think it was. This example however, though in the style of the 16th century, was made in the late 20th century. It sold for 23.5 thousand dollars I believe.
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| PIETRA DURA TABLE TOP SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S NEW YORK IN 2001. |
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| FOUR IMAGES FROM THE BADMINTON CABINET 1726-32 GALLERIA DI 'LLAVORI, FLORENCE |
Next time you are in Florence go see the Opificio delle pietra dura - the museum housed in a period building in a street round the corner from the Accademia. It has a splendid collection of pietra dura items from all periods and a good display of the materials and techniques involved in the making of it.
Oh and Monica T Price's book - DECORATIVE STONE - THE COMPLETE SOURCE BOOK, London 2007 - is a must if you want to identify decorative stones from round the world.
Ciao & KBO
Ian
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"It is only when you get home that you discover you were actually in the area, the street, the church that housed a city's greatest treasure."
Pam Brown b1928.
