A North Italian hardstone inset, parcel-gilt, ebonised and rosewood secretaire à abattant, attributed to Giovanni Battista Maroni, Milan, circa 1800

The present secretaire à abattant certainly showcases the Italian neoclassical style of the late 18^th century, the fascination for stones and their usage as ornaments on furniture pieces. This combination of features points to the skills of the Milanese cabinetmaker Giovanni Battista Maroni (1750-1848) whose work does not find equivalents in the repertoire of Italian furniture production of the last quarter of the 18^th century.

The attribution to Maroni can be drawn thanks to three commodes and one secretaire (figs. 1 and 2) - possibly after designs by the Italian Agostino Gerli- acquired in 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte’s uncle Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839). These furniture pieces all located today at Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio not only adopt the same architectural structure as the present secretaire, they also feature this distinctive decoration in the front divided in sections and inlaid with small hardstones panels onto a richly hued timber. Unlike this group of furniture pieces however, the present example does not include marquetry inlays, but rather carved parcel-gilt pastiglia mouldings.

Little is known about Giovanni Battista Maroni who was the son of Carlo Giuseppe Maroni, a cabinetmaker based in Milan with his workshop first in the Santo Stefano Church and later in the San Fedele Church. Recent findings by Giuseppe Beretti and Alvar González-Palacios link Maroni with the monogram G.B.M., found on several important Milanese furniture pieces. Essentially, a pair of commodes is recorded in a private collection with one bearing the monogram G.B.M., the other with the inscription ‘Giovanni Battista Maronus’ and the date 1797. Giuseppe Beretti further adds Maroni was influenced and probably trained in the art of marquetry by the acclaimed Milanese cabinetmaker Giuseppe Maggiolini ("Le mobilier en Corse au temps des Bonaparte, exh. cat., Maison Bonaparte, 6 April – 8 July 2018, pp.45-46). In fact, close comparisons can be identified between the work of the two Italian cabinetmakers.