Mazarino bureau-desk. Italy, 19th century.
Jacaranda wood and details in ebonised wood.
Marquetry of bone and mother-of-pearl.
In need of refinishing. It has remains of ancient xylographs.
The keys are not conserved.
Measurements: 107 x 146 x 67 cm.
As is characteristic of this type of Italian furniture, in the Mazarino bureau the wood is profusely decorated with inlaid marquetry in bone and mother-of-pearl. It is a typology derived from Louis XIV furniture, which in turn was based on Italian designs. The nineteenth-century piece in question is a revival of the baroque language. The double frame of the older models is replaced here by cut-out crosspieces that join the four legs on each side of the desk. The legs, with an inverted truncated pyramid section, support the desk, which has six drawers in a symmetrical arrangement. The concave front gives the desk a dynamic, baroque-inspired look that harmonises with the mixtilinear profile of the ebonised wood uprights. The small drawers in the upper body also have a slightly convex front. All the drawers are inlaid with bone marquetry in keyhole escutcheons flanked by mythological griffins. Olympian gods and heroic figures, among other mythological scenes, decorate the top and sides of the cabinet, set in borders, ovals and niches. The bone marquetry is completed with mother-of-pearl inlay.