Late 18th Century Pietro Bossi Carrara marble and scagliola chimney piece.
This superb chimney piece is an excellent example of Bossi’s iconic style featuring intricate scagliola design in a variety of arresting colours set into relief by the pristine whiteness of Carrara marble. The white marble shelf, of breakfront outline, surmounts a central frieze featuring a neoclassical covered urn in shades of amber, terracotta, and burnt umber, surrounded by designs of trailing ivy, acanthus leaf fronds, and swags of laurel garlands in shades of olive, verdant green, and dark teal, gathered by roseate-hued ribbons The end tablets to either side display similar decoration. The motifs of trailing foliage, ribbons, and sheaves of wheat, set within slender deep green frames, run vertically on the jambs that terminate in carved marble footstones.
Bossi is justly renowned for his mastery of scagliola work, and this very elegant chimney piece showcases his technique, his eye for nuance of colour, and the neoclassical motifs he favoured. Bossi was listed in the Dublin Directories of the period as an ‘Inlayer in marble and Stucco Worker’ operating at Fleet Street in the latter quarter of the eighteenth century. His clients, such as the 1st Duke of Leinster, were the crème de la crème of Irish society. The exquisite detail and quality of his craftsmanship continue to be highly prized by cognoscenti today.
Provenance: Merrion Square, Dublin
Price upon request
