THE TOP ATTRIBUTED TO THE DELLA VALLE BROTHERS OF LIVORNO, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY; THE TABLE 20TH CENTURY

The workshop of Pietro Della Valle and his brother Giuseppe was active in the Tuscan port city of Livorno during the mid-19th century. The brothers were considered accomplished artists in scagliola works, demonstrating a great ability and craftmanshipt. Their scagliola has a characteristic painterly quality and in fact, Pietro Della Valle had started his career as a painter. However, Pietro, together with his brother, turned to decorating in scagliola, using traditional methods and skills learnt from his formal artistic training and developing a unique talent rarely equalled by other artists. Contemporary writing recorded their technical methods and particularly his resulting unusual patina. Their workshop operated across Tuscany, though the brothers were always based in Livorno, which, at the time, was a cosmopolitan centre where international clientele and English travellers often terminated their tours of Italy.
Scagliola, is sometimes referred to by scholars as the cheapest alternative to Pietra Dura, but indeed the best examples of scagliola works of the 18th century exceeds Pietra Dura, both in artistic composition and variety of colours.
Scagliola, a composite material akin to plaster, is made from selenite, the purist form of gypsum. This is calcined, reduced to a fine powder, mixed into a paste and rolled out into a slab. It is then incised for the decoration, which is filled with colours and eventually polished, (Jonathan Cook, Masters of the Art of Scagliola, published 'Country Life', 29 September 1994).