Pair of rare polychrome fir display cabinets with walnut uprights, partly gilded with pure gold leaf.
The interiors of the two pieces of furniture are covered 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 the 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 high-relief panels on top and in every decorative element present in these unusual objects of art.
The furniture is embellished with wooden carvings, deviating from the stylistic patterns of the time, except for the richness of the decorations.
Therefore, there are very fine ornaments depicting triumphs supported by Caryatids which, on each side, support an amphora vase from which branches with acanthus and ivy leaves, together with small birds, flowers, snails, and butterflies, depart, 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 bluff and the bucolic scene in which a child swings on the swing together with other children; everything is set in a rural context, with trees and shrubs, made with polychrome and gilding.
It can be thought that the remnants of Romantic culture, fervent with ideals and passion, immerse the children in an atmosphere of dream, idealism, aesthetic sensibility, poetry, and sentimental dedication.
Some missing lacquer, gilding, and carvings.
In the lower left, note a tiny strip replaced for years with another of lilac color.
In a panel at the bottom, a secret compartment was later created.
Lombardy, last quarter of the 19th century.
Measurements: Height 275cm Width 122cm x Depth 43cm
