Accent-table/settee In The Taste Of Renzo Mongiardino, With 17th Century Flemish Embroidery

Accent-table/settee in the taste of Renzo Mongiardino, with 17th century Flemish embroidery.
17 century (embroidery), 19th century (velvet).
Silk, linen, metal, wood.
h. 18,1 in. ; L. 44,5 in. ; l. 29,5 in.

This accent-table/settee, in the taste of Renzo Mongiardino, was born in the second half of the 20th century through the reunion of a trapezophoroi wooden base and a 17th century upholstery. Under a green-lime velvet top, it features a rich braided fringe with tassels, highlighting a linen gauze band embroidered with polychrome silk counted stitch, adorned with metallic cords, depicting a landscape of gnarled trees and tulips, all animated with sheep, dogs, and birds.

The embroidery, Flemish in all likelihood, dates back to the 17th century. It was restored in the 19th century and bears the marks and wear of a life spanning more than three centuries.

Renzo Mongiardino is perhaps the most theatrical interior designer of the 20th century’s, blending inspirations and objects from both Antiquity and the Renaissance, combining styles as opposite as those of the neoclassic and the baroque. This banquette typify Mongiardino’s taste, especially his Milanese works of the late 1970s.

Sources

Martina Mondadori Sartogo, Renzo Mongiardino. A Painterly Vision, New York, 2017.