Identifier: illustratedcatal00amer_8 (find matches)
Title: Illustrated catalogue of the art and literary property collected by the late Henry G. Marquand
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: American Art Association Kirby, Thomas Ellis, 1846-1924 Sturgis, Russell, 1836-1909
Subjects: Marquand, Henry G
Publisher: New York : American Art Association
Contributing Library: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Library
Digitizing Sponsor: LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation

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eight, 4 feet; length, 7 feet 7 inches. 1362— Old Venetian Stamped Leather—Fifteenth Century. From Pieve di Cadore. The design is floral scrolls in red, silver, and blue on a gold ground. 1363— Grand Piano. DESIGNED BY SIR ALMA-TADEMA, R.A., WITH PAINTED PANEL BY SIREDWARD J. POYNTER, P.R.A.In many respects this piano presents one of the most extraordinary examples of artisticcraftsmanship that have been produced in modern times. It recalls the splendid invention,the graceful,, luxurious imaginativeness that distinguished the work of the Graeco-Roman artistswho ministered to the fastidious taste of the most cultivated citizens of Pompeii. Sir Alma-Tadema, everywhere acknowledged among moderns as the artist par excellence who can re-incarnate the genius as well as the externals of the later classic period, given carte blanche, hasaccomplished in this object a result that is as remarkable for the exquisite refinement of itsensemble as for the elaborate inventiveness of its detail.
Text Appearing After Image:
The framework of the piano is of ebony, with inlays of red cedar, the latter serving asa field for decoration in ivory, mother-of-pearl, and shells. The cover is embellished withthe names of the nine Muses, each enclosed within a wreath, while that of Apollo is givendistinction by additional elaboration of the wreath and ribbons. The body of the piano isdecorated at the back and at the ends on each side of the keyboard with scrolls. These area free adaptation of the acanthus motive, executed in boxwood and ivory, in bold relief, andwith exquisite variety of raised and channelled surface, terminating in a tendril of ivory.In the centre of each side is a small design of a myrtle wreath, wrought in ivory, withberries of coral and shell, enclosing a tripod altar, above which is a spray of laurel, executedin pieces of semi-precious stones. It is a little gem of craftsmanship in the exquisite art ofpietra dura. The front legs, viewed in profile, are broad and massive, exhibiting a winged li

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