Sofa (Divano)
furniture maker
Unknown
Datemid 18th century
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumPainted walnut
Dimensions71 x 203.6 x 76.6 cm (27 15/16 x 80 3/16 x 30 3/16 in.)
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberF18e32
eMuseum ID717109
EmbARK ObjectID13289
TMS Source ID2274
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis sofa is divided into three sections by continuous bands that run from the legs through the curvilinear rails. A shell carved in low relief marks the center of each section. Tendrils, leaves, and small flowers painted in ochre and yellow decorate the surfaces. It is not known where Isabella purchased this sofa but it was in the Music Room of her Brookline home, Green Hill, in the late 1890s. Music is also a theme in the Little Salon where it now resides.
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 144.
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), p. 163, no. 58.
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), p. 163, no. 58.
ProvenanceNotesEntered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection by the late 1890s.
