Provenance: Semenzato Venezia, 26 April 1992, lot 225 (catalogue cover); Private collection, Padova.

Comparative literature: S. Levy, "Lacche veneziane settecentesche", Milan 1967, vol. I, pl. 164-167;
S. Levy, "Lacche veneziane settecentesche", Milan 1967, vol. II, pl. 406-409;
C. Santini, "Le lacche dei Veneziani", Modena 2003, pp. 193-195, fig. 172-177.

A true masterpiece of Venetian lacquered cabinet-making, this 'trumeau' constitutes one of the pinnacles of the production for the aristocratic palaces of the Serenissima, standing out both for its dense and detailed 'chinoiseries' decoration, carried out with high skill and didactic description, and for the refined carvings that make the work a succession of moving lines, volutes, carvings and pilasters with an almost sculptural and never banal flavour. The quality of both the lacquer, a bright and magnetic red, as well as the carving and gilded decoration suggest that it was probably commissioned for an important noble family in the very heart of the Venice around the middle of the 18th century, perhaps the central part of an entire room decorated in red lacquer and with 'oriental' themes and decorations.
It is possible to compare our example with another bureau cabinet with a red background and chinoiserie decorations, already part of the Alvise Barozzi collection in Venice and published in S. Levy, "Lacche veneziane settecentesche", Milan 1967 , vol. I, pl. 164-167: if both share a light and refined line, in addition to the elegant broken line cymatium and the dense detailed decorations, ours has the upper doors which are not in glass and also decorated, in addition to the sides which extend with a concave line that softly widens the lower part instead of concluding it with a straight and less decorated section, as in the case of the latter.
The motif of the 'magots' in various poses within landscapes enclosed by frames and garlands can also be found, always gilded on a red lacquered background, on decorative panels already part of the Tullio Silva collection in Milan (again illustrated in S. Levy, "Lacche veneziane settecentesche", Milan 1967, vol. II, pl. 406-409) and on a pine wood service illustrated in C. Santini, "Le lacche dei Veneziani", Modena 2003, pp. 193-195, fig. 172-177.