Inlaid table by Ferdinando Pogliani (Milan 1832-1899)

Ferdinando Pogliani (Milan 1832-1899), inlaid table, second half of the 19th century. Ebonized wood, ivory, cm. 75 x 95 x 58 A refined center table, veneered in ebony wood and inlaid with ivory on the top, sides and legs. The decoration of acanthus leaves and putti alternates with four cameos of male figures, in clothes of various eras, perhaps the illustrious members of the family from whom the work was commissioned. To support the hypothesis, there is a coat of arms depicting a lion from which fierce figures, torches and weapons emerge. At the center of the table, a male figure crowned with laurel and equipped with a quiver full of arrows, perhaps the god Apollo, dances with nine maidens, the Muses. BIOGRAPHY Ferdinando Pogliani was born in Milan in 1832. After a probable apprenticeship with a furniture craftsman, he opened his workshop as an cabinetmaker and inlayer in the second half of the 19th century. His workshop was located in Porta Vittoria and later in Via Monte Napoleone; the business was carried out with the help of his three sons: Giuseppe, an engineer and furniture designer, Paolo, a sculptor, and finally Carlo, an inlayer. His furniture is characterized by strong eclecticism, which however translates into its more historical version, as demonstrated by the evident Renaissance inspiration and the decoration with neoclassical subjects taken from prints that circulated at the time. The wood most used in his workshop was ebony, but sometimes walnut and ebonized pear wood were also used; his works are embellished with refined details made of ivory, bone, tortoiseshell and sometimes precious stones. With the participation in the National Exhibition of 1871, Pogliani's workshop was consecrated to success, becoming popular among the Italian and international nobility and bourgeoisie, as evidenced by his presence at the Vienna Exhibitions in 1873, the Centennial in Philadelphia in 1876 and in Paris in 1878. His fame earned him the commission of Napoleon III, a bed and a desk for one of his residences. Ferdinando died in 1899; his sons continued the family business, updating themselves in line with the times to a more essential taste.