The Age Of Rococo - Italy

Far from coming down to earth, Italian Rococo handmade furniture often indulged in flights of fancy undreamed of in France. Venice produced some of the most lively confections. The typical Venetian commode in the mid 18th century was of exaggerated bombe shape, with a bold swelling towards the top, making the small cabriole feet appear inadequate. Asymmetrically arranged C-scrolls edged the drawers. The whole thing was painted in bright colours with either chinoseries or, more often, flowers. The quality of the interior usually failed to live up to the high standards of Italian workmanship in the earlier periods and the 'lacca' (painted or lacquered decoration) is not equal to that of some other countries.

A substitute for painted decoration was 'lacca povera' (poor man's lacquer), for which specially produced prints were cut out, glued on to the painted surface and varnished over. Bureaux based on English prototypes were treated in this way and sometimes employed in pairs at country retreats. Good examples today are fairly expensive.
Another Venetian speciality was a sofa of exceptional length for use in ballrooms. It had cabriole legs and an open back supported at the centre by a fretted splat which often shows Anglo-Dutch influence, although the carving of scrolls and shells in very French in feeling. Similar carving, picked out in gold, frames painted panels on bed-heads which are sometimes shaped as enormous scallop shells.
The Baroque tradition is perpetuated, with a touch of Rococo light-heartedness, in the carved and gilt throne chairs which continued to be made in Venice until the middle of the 18th century. An example in the Palazzo Rezzonico is believed to be the work of the sculptor Antonio Corradini, c.1730.

Relatively little Italian fitted and non fitted furniture of the period can be attributed with certainty to particular makers, but some of the best produced in Turin is credited to Pietro Piffetti (c.1700 - 1777). Born in Rome, he settled in Turin in 1731 and produced ecclesiastical pieces for the next four years under the influence of Filippo Juvarra. Piffetti then adopted a highly ornate Rococo manner, producing cabinets-on-stands and bureau-cabinets richly decorated with inlaid ivory, tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl, and mounted with bronzes of humans or animals specially made by Francesco Ladetti (1706 - 1787), who was Paris trained and interpreted the Rococo style in a subtle way. After around 1750, Piffetti also employed the style with more restraint.

Florence still produced its famous table-tops in pietre dure, but a less expensive substitute, scagliola, was developed by Enrico Hugford, Laberto Cristiano Gori and Pietro Belloni.
Known since Roman times, scagliola was a paste made from ground selenite set in wet plaster. It was then coloured and polished to resemble various kinds of hard stone. Like lacca povera, it catered for a middle-class customer who loved the operatic richness of the Italian Rococo, but could not afford the best.