18th Century Italian Bleached Walnut Chest of Drawers with Inlay

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Chest of drawers hand-made in central Italy in the late 1700s using walnut and decorated with satinwood inlaid veneer. The … Read more Chest of drawers hand-made in central Italy in the late 1700s using walnut and decorated with satinwood inlaid veneer. The chest of drawers features three overlay drawers with ogee edges, all of about the same size. The drawer fronts are decorated with rectangular inlaid banding framing the handles and escutcheons. The banding is also found on the flat sides and the top of the chest. The inlay is interesting because instead of being a simple inlaid strip of wood it is actually made of several small mosaic pieces that remind me a lot of Tetris\. but then again, I am an 80s child, so everything remotely geometrical reminds me of Tetris. But I diverge! the inlay helps softening the very straight edges and overall linear appearance of the piece. The bleached walnut also helps in softening the piece quite a bit and make it less formal, while maintaining its elegant lines and overall look. The chest sits on its original bracket feet and around the top it is adorned with thin, hand-carved curved molding. The absolutely best feature of this chest of drawers is the beautiful and visible dovetailing present on the top, whoever built this piece back in the day wanted to show off their precision skills and make a piece quite out of the ordinary. While this is a feature often present in northern European furniture, it is quite uncommon on Italian one, making this truly a unique piece of furniture.
Overall this is a beautiful and functional piece that can be decorative as well as practical. Its timeless lines and light color will make it look right at home in a classical, formal, modern or even eclectic space because itself does not really fit under any one particular style. This is most definitely a conversation starter piece that has a long history and curious origin. See less