L'eleganza di un Connoisseur L'eleganza di un Connoisseur L'eleganza di un Connoisseur L'eleganza di un Connoisseur L'eleganza di un Connoisseur

THE ELEGANCE OF A CONNAISSEUR

This collection is a fine example of one particular aspect – significant yet often overlooked – of the life and passions of art dealers. That they are, before all else, merchants, is more than obvious. Yet, the very fact that they often manage to combine with their work a sincere and deeply-entrenched love for the elegance of art is often unobserved. There are many examples both among the heirs to the great “antique dealer” families as well as among those people who have forged ahead in their work on their own. Among all those famous names we might mention that prince of late twentieth-century antique dealers, signor Accorsi whose legacy has been transformed into such an important collection for his city, Turin. Even in the case of the collector we are currently describing, the passion of the dealer took precedence over his – albeit – highly active business activity. He chose his works attentively, from furniture and paintings to decorative objects, all often singled out after careful research. Over the years he collected a beautiful library of books – an essential working tool both for the dealer as well as for the true collector. His books were loved to the extent that they all bore sophisticated and beautifully selected bookplates. The backdrop to the collection (we are in Piedmont let’s not forget!) is France and, especially, the France of the Rococo and Neo-classicism. There are, however, in the collections, meanderings into other areas all in line with the elegant, comfortable and inviting atmosphere of the house. Among the furniture in the collection there is a desk from the first half of the Eighteenth century, a Louis XV bureau stamped Boudin and four Piedmontese lacquered gilt armchairs. Among the paintings, as well as works by Coccorante and Tempesta, there is a wonderful gallery of portraits of the Savoy ruling house. The choice of ceramics has been carefully made over the years – both European and Chinese – and includes sculpture and bronzes. One of the most decorative pieces has to be the large (almost ninety centimetres high) pair of gilt bronze candelabras, probably French: two objects of sheer elegance.