Designer: Designed by Filippo Pelagio Palagi (Italian, Bologna 1775–1860 Turin)
Maker: Gabriele Capello ((called Il Moncalvo), Italian, 1806–1876)
Maker: and Carlo Chivasse
Date: ca. 1835
Culture: Italian, Piedmont
Medium: Mahogany veneered with maplewood and mahogany, covered with modern silk brocade
Dimensions: 42 1/2 x 90 x 31 1/8 in. (108 x 228.6 x 79.1 cm)
Classification: Woodwork-Furniture
Credit Line: Purchase, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, 1987
Accession Number: 1987.62.1
Description
This sofa and two armchairs (1987.62.2, .3) are from a set of furniture that also included a daybed, six side chairs, and two additional armchairs. The set was designed by the Bolognese architect Filippo Pelagio Palagi, who in 1832 was commissioned by Carlo Alberto, king of Sardinia, to redecorate his royal palaces. One of these palaces was at Racconigi, and Palagi designed this set of furniture for the principal drawing room next to the royal bedroom.
The armchairs and sofa are distinguished by the sculptural treatment of the crest rails and by the quality and refinement of the veneering. The set of furniture was executed by Gabrielle Cappello, whose workshop produced many of Pelagi's designs for Racconigi. The silk upholstery fabric on the armchairs and sofa is a reproduction of the original covering; it was woven by the textile firm that originally produced the fabric in the 1830s.
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