Secretary

ca. 1770

Pietro Piffetti Italian, 1700-1777

On View

Fashionable Living, Level 3, South Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Cabinetmaker to the Sardinian royal family in Turin, Piffetti was one of the most original and virtuoso furniture makers of eighteenth-century Europe. His furniture forms, conceived as sculptural fantasies, emphasize exuberant curves and an energetic interplay of solid and void. He is equally well known for sophisticated marquetry decorations, combining exotic woods, such as Brazilian kingwood, with ivory and mother-ofpearl, creating a sensuous contrast of color and surface. The restrained diamond-pattern parquetry on this desk is embellished by ivory rosettes in the interstices and by ebony and ivory stringing that outlines the form. Piffetti's extravagant furniture embodies the Italian interpretation of the rococo, marked by unrestrained animation and fantastic invention.

Title Secretary

Artwork Date ca. 1770

Artist Pietro Piffetti

Life Dates 1700-1777

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Italian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Kingwood, ivory, and ebony on wood carcass, mirrors

Dimensions Overall (by sight): 88 in. × 33 3/4 in. × 18 in. (223.5 × 85.7 × 45.7 cm)

Classification Furniture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 73.167

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

Louis Huth. Mrs. R. E. Underdown (London, England)

1972, sold at auction (Christie, Manson & Woods, 30 Nov. 1972, lot 86, London, England)

T. Rogers. (W. Apolloni, dealer, Rome, Italy)

1973-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Objects of Art and Clocks. Fine French and Continental Furniture, Tapestries, Eastern Rugs and Carpets (sales catalogue). London: Christie, Manson & Woods, November 3, 1972, lot 86.

Pedrini, A. Il Mobilio: Gli Ambienti E Le Decorazioni Nei Secoli Xvii E Xviii In Piemonte. Turin, 1973, fig. 317.

“Family Art Game.” DIA Advertising Supplement, Detroit News, April 10, 1983, 26 (ill.).

Antonetto, R. Minusieri Ed Ebanisti Del Piemonte: Storia E Immagini Del Mobile Piemontese 1636-1844. Turin, 1985, p. 330, fig. 494.

Gonzalez-Palacios, A. Il Tempio Del Gusto: Le Arti Decor- Ative In Italia Fra Classicismi E Barocco; Il Gran- Ducato Di Toscana E Gli Stati Settentrionali, vol. 1. Milan, 1986, pp. 382-385, color pl. LX, vol. II: figs. 849-851.

Ferraris, Giancarlo. Pietro Pifetti e gli Ebanisti a Torino 1670-1838. Turin, 1993, pp. 142-143.

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Pietro Piffetti, Secretary, ca. 1770, kingwood, ivory, and ebony on wood carcass, mirrors. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 73.167.