Cabinet (Stipo)
furniture maker
Unknown
Date18th century
Place MadeTrentino-Alto Adige, Italy, Europe
MediumPainted and gilded poplar with inlays of walnut and pine
Dimensions101.5 x 74.7 x 40.5 cm (39 15/16 x 29 7/16 x 15 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberF15w1
eMuseum ID725232
EmbARK ObjectID11662
TMS Source ID851
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis 18th century cabinet embodies the charm of Italian provincial furniture, especially of the Alpine regions. Fantastical beasts, turreted buildings, landscapes, and figures are naively painted on small patches of gilding on a red ground. The central panel conceals a set of fifteen drawers and inside of one, is a secret compartment. On top, Isabella Stewart Gardner displayed an arrangement of a several Japanese objects including a Japanese ceramic figure of Tang dynasty Chinese poet, Li Bai (701-762).
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 7. (as "Italian cabinet")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 104. (possibly Venetian)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), pp. 100-1, no. 31.
Diana Seave Greenwald. "Creating Rapture: Assemblage & Museum Making" in Diana Seave Greenwald (ed.). Betye Saar: Heart of a Wonderer. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2023), p. 19, fig. 1.
Diana Seave Greenwald, "Betye Saar & The Gardner Museum: A Long Standing Relationship," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 7 February 2023, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/betye-saar-gardner-museum-long-standing-relationship
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 104. (possibly Venetian)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), pp. 100-1, no. 31.
Diana Seave Greenwald. "Creating Rapture: Assemblage & Museum Making" in Diana Seave Greenwald (ed.). Betye Saar: Heart of a Wonderer. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2023), p. 19, fig. 1.
Diana Seave Greenwald, "Betye Saar & The Gardner Museum: A Long Standing Relationship," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 7 February 2023, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/betye-saar-gardner-museum-long-standing-relationship
ProvenanceNotesEntered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection by 1903.
