Restored objects from the furniture collection in the Mimara Museum

This exhibition presents six pieces from the furniture collection of the Mimara Museum, with the aim of giving the Museum visitors a vivid illustration of the details of delicate conservation procedures. The descriptive panels which accompany the selected pieces contain working photographs depicting all the stages of the conservation procedure as well as the scientific and laboratory analyses used, thus providing detailed information on the techniques of the making of each object. At the same time, the exhibits serve to illustrate the great complexity of conservation work and the research it involves. This insight into the different stages in the making of each object testifies to the masterly quality and delicate techniques used in their production, as well as in the conservation and restoration of each piece. The objects presented at the exhibition illustrate the features of the Baroque and Empire.

Lada Ratković Bukovčan, M.A.
museum adviser,
head of the furniture collection

THE BAROQUE: Second Half of the 16^th Century to the Beginning of the 18^th Century

The armoire cabinet is an object that went through the entire development arc in the 17^th century, from the definition of its design, to reaching a quality peak, to gradual demise. This luxury object, used by courtiers, nobility and merchants to store valuables, developed from the Spanish vargueno at the end of the 16^th century. In the 17^th century it engaged the work of many different artisans (such as goldsmiths and ebonists, etc.), and very often painters and sculptors. It was mostly made from ebony, or ebony imitations produced by ebonizing other kinds of wood. The use of exotic materials vastly expanded the existing repertory of finishing and decoration, and the techniques of intarsia, encrusting; decorating wood with ivory and horn inlays were developed further. Already at the very beginning of the 17^th century Augsburg was one of the most important centres of production of armoire cabinets, but objects of equally masterly finishing were made in the first half of the 17^th century and during the 1660s in Antwerp, France (in the second half of the 17^th century), and in Italy¹.

The activities of East India companies over the 17^th century impacted the production of furniture too, boosting the desire to use precious, exclusive materials (ebony, palisander, mother of pearl, etc.) and playful decoration of eastern origin (so called chinoiserie). In terms of both importation and imitation Holland and England stand out, but Far Eastern influences permeated objects of applied art in France, Italy and Germany as well. All the elements of such influences are present in the making of armoire cabinets in their best form.

Armoire cabinet (Exhibit 1 – no. ATM 1853; height 106 cm; width 56 cm; depth 34 cm; ill. 1), Holland, end of the 17th century, polychrome wood with gilding, decorated with appliques of gilded brass is an homage to the miniature art of the Far East.³

Cabinet for storing a numismatic collection (Exhibit 2 – no. ATM 1848; h. 40 cm; w. 37 cm; depth 28 cm; ill. 2), England, second half of the 17^th century, polychrome wood with gilding, gilded brass decorations, is a logical derivation of the mentioned tendencies, and it illustrates all the segments of the making and decoration of armoire cabinets. Although it is of diminutive dimensions (just like the contemporary jewellery cases and other similar objects), the exhibited object exemplifies the same production skills in combination with the flawless aesthetic harmony of the whole, with the decoration dominated by the familiar chinoiseries motifs.⁴

Twisted column was among the most common architectural elements of the Baroque taken over from the classical arts. It was the foundation and the cornerstone that absorbed and defined the mobility of the surrounding space and attracted abundant decoration enveloping its twisting form with whirling Baroque lavishness. Widely found across Italy and Europe, the twisted column appeared in splendid forms of prolific expressivity in Spain during the second half of the 17^th century and the first half of the 18^th century. The architect José de Churriguera (1665 – 1725) developed an idea in 1693 that he put into practice in the making of the monumental altar of San Esteban Church in Salamanca, dominated by wooden twisted columns richly decorated with gilded foliage (vine and acanthus shaped). The altar became a model across Spain and Portugal, and the followers of the style of Churriguera and his two brothers continued to emulate the lavish form of Solomonic columns during the entire first half of 18^th century.⁵

Twisted column (Exhibit 3 – no. ATM 1701; h. 142.7 cm; diameter 24 cm; ill. 3), Spain, turn of the 18th century, polychrome wood with relief carving and gilding – it could be said that it summarizes like a precise glossary everything already mentioned about the imaginative commitment to colour, decoration and enthusiasm of the Spanish production of such objects, giving us insight into details of their production and decoration.⁶

THE CENTURY OF STYLISTIC CHANGES: the Beginning of the 18^th Century to the Beginning of the 19^th Century

The knowledge and the level of attained artisanal skills gradually transformed each of the segments of furniture making into a true understanding of stylistic features and needs of new interiors. From France there spread into other countries new refined playful designs, adapted to more intimate interiors, which took root during the Régence period, i.e. the regency of Phillipe II, Duke of Orléans (1715 – 1723). This style transformed almost without interruption into the style marking the rule of Louis XV (1723 – 1774), or the Rococo.

To the motifs from the period of regency an addition was made in the form of the commonly used motif of rocaille (shell-like decoration); acanthus leaves, cartouches, etc. Artisans specializing in different aspects participated in furniture production – carpenters, woodcarvers, artisans in charge of staining, gilding and polishing furniture, and makers of bronze appliques.⁷

During the Directory (1795 – 1799) and the Consulate (1799 – 1804) the artisans and their followers from the time of Louis XVI were still active, and precisely in that fact lies the cause of a gradual revival of the production of quality furniture. Their knowledge is manifested during Napoleon’s reign, and it is characterized by the representative, lofty Empire style (which was dominant in 1804 – 1815, and which in some versions endured until 1830). The pompous perfectionism of the style united all the classicist motifs (Etruscan and Roman ones) with Egyptian and Greek motifs. Elements of benches, armchairs, table legs and commodes are designed in the shapes of sphinx, griffon and female busts; mahogany and polychrome and gilded wood is dominant in the production of furniture. The triumphalism of classical features is reflected in the proud tranquillity of seating furniture of the Empire.

Bench (Exhibit 4 – no. ATM 1894; h. 102 cm; l. 230 cm; depth 68 cm; ill. 4) and two armchairs (Exhibits 5 and 6 – no. ATM 1894 a, and no. ATM 1894 b; h. 108 cm; w. 70 cm; depth 65 cm; ill. 5), France, around 1810, carved and gilded wood, overlaid with brocade. Each of the objects reflects the mentioned features of the Empire style, in their specific construction aspects, as well as in the clear representative harmony of the whole.⁸