An Italian scagliola table top by the Della Valle Brothers of Livorno, Tuscany, circa 1840

This table top belongs to a small group of scagliola panels produced in the Tuscan workshop of Pietro and Giuseppe Della Valle brothers, both active in the mid-19th century. The table’s iconography captures the neoclassical spirit, leisurely reflecting on Italy’s ancient ruins and monuments.

Together with the archaeological sites of the territory, the Vesuvius volcano near Naples became one of the central elements of interest to the Grand Tour travellers. The descriptive obsession with Vesuvius from various aspects, such as seen by light of moon or gilded by a sunset, gave rise to a vast output by artists/travellers, or artists from the Neapolitan school between the end of the 18th century and the early 19th century. 

A central scene depicting a boat on waters with the Vesuvius in the background is depicted in a circular scagliola table top attributed to the Della Valle Brothers offered at Christie’s, New York, 22nd October 2020, lot 237 and a rectangular panel sold at Replica Shoes ’s, London, 29th June 2005, lot 345.

The roundels flanked by leafy branches found in the border of this table are similar to those found in a scagliola panel by the della Valle brothers now in the Bianchi Collection, Florence, see Anna Maria Massinelli, Scagliola, Rome, 1997, p. 78. 

The della Valle brothers

The firm of the della Valle brothers specialised in scagliola work. Whilst founded in Rome at the end of the end of the 18th century, the workshop transferred to Livorno circa 1805 to avoid the disturbances caused by the invasion of Italy by Napoleon. It was Filippo della Valle who took over its direction at that time and his sons Pietro and Giuseppe who built up its reputation. By the time they assumed responsibility in 1838, the firm was producing work of a very high standard and was particularly well-known for their ability to create topographical views in scagliola (see Anna Maria Massinelli, Scagliola, Rome, 1997, pp. 80-82).

In 1851, the brothers exhibited at the Great Exhibition, where they were part of the section dedicated to Tuscany. The introduction to that section, draws attention to the quality of their work 'the artistic taste of the Tuscans is likewise perceptible in their wood-carvings, in their hard-stone mosaic, and in their scagliola and marqueterie works'. 

Prior to their success at the Great Exhibition, the firm was also highly praised for a panel showing a shipwreck off the coast of Spezia, presented at the Academia delle Belle Arti, in Florence in 1844. Perhaps their most celebrated work is a table by Pietro and Giuseppe Della Valle, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy. It was commissioned by Victor Poirel, the French engineer responsible for work on the port of Livorno, and is decorated with views of the new port, illustrated by Simone Chiarugi, Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana, Firenze, 1994,Vol. II, p. 226, fig. 292.