An Italian tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl inlaid casket, Naples, late 17th/early 18th century

Luigi Koelliker Collection, London;

Sotheby’s, London, 3rd December 2008, lot 52.

This casket, with its delicately-engraved scrolling foliate decoration in mother-of-pearl on a tortoiseshell ground, is typical of the work produced in Naples in the late 17th and early 18th century. This charming example recalls piqué work, a technique which probably originated in Naples at the end of the 16th century, and consists of softening tortoiseshell in boiling water and olive oil and then impressing designs in mother-of-pearl or precious metal. Designs for Neapolitan pieces were often inspired by prints circulated at the time.

Similar tables with comparable mother-of-pearl inlay on a tortoiseshell ground are recorded, with the most related example, by Sabastiano Novale in 1701, illustrated in E. Colle, II Mobile Barocco in Italia, Milano, 2000, cat. 78, p.323. A top conceived in a similar vein with floral sprays at the angles and an allegorical or mythological scene in the centre, described as possibly Neapolitan, is illustrated in Alvar GonzáIez-Palacios, II tempio del Gusto, La Toscana e I' Italia Settentrionale, Milano, 1986, VoI. II, cat. 766, p. 363.

Related Neapolitan table tops in this technique were sold at Replica Shoes 's, New York, 3rd November 1989, lot 94 and at Replica Shoes ’s, London, 11th June 2003, lot 34.