Pair of rare polychrome fir display cabinets with walnut uprights and partially gilded with pure gold leaf.
The interiors of the two furnishings are lined with a purple silk damask, certainly at least from the 18th century, and are completed with blown glass.
The residence from which they come belongs to a noble family of long lineage.
Around 1880, after the birth of their second son, these spectacular furnishings were most likely commissioned to celebrate the joys of childhood of the two male children, both with the scenes of the upper panels executed in high relief and in every decorative element present in these unusual objects of art.
The furniture is embellished with wooden carvings, departing from the stylistic patterns of the time, except for the richness of the decorations.
Thus, there are very fine ornaments depicting triumphs supported by Caryatids who, on each side, support an amphora vase from which branches with acanthus and ivy leaves depart, together with birds, flowers, snails and butterflies, culminating with another vase with golden ears of wheat, a symbol of prosperity, and with a child's head, a symbol of Love.
In the lower part there are two sphinxes and in the middle an emperor's head, to highlight parental authority, institutional prestige, and the sphinxes to protect the offspring, often used in Romanticism and then in Symbolism.
The two high-relief panels that are placed at the top represent the young children in two playful moments, such as blind man's buff and the bucolic scene in which a child swings on the swing with the other children; everything is inserted in a rural context, with trees and shrubs, made with polychrome colors and gilding.
It can be thought that the remnants of Romantic culture, fervent with ideals and passion, immerses children in a climate of dreams, idealism, aesthetic sensibility, poetry, and sentimental dedication.
Some lack in lacquer and gilding, and carvings.
In the lower left, note a tiny strip replaced years ago with another of lilac color.
In a panel below, a secret compartment was subsequently created.
Lombardy, last quarter of the 19th century.
Measurements: H. 275cm W. 122cm x D. 43cm
