NEOCLASSIAN GAME TABLE By Giuseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814) Walnut, ebony, rosewood and satinwood veneer on a background of amaranth and lemon wood, the top with inlaid decoration representing an eagle with spread wings holding a laurel branch, inscribed in a reserve surrounded by a frieze of stylized foliage, the spandrels with an elongated griffin motif, unfolding and pivoting and revealing an interior adorned with a medallion, the corners decorated with flowery falls in the natural style, resting on sheathed feet; small accidents Dimensions (closed tray): H.: 77 cm (30 ¼ in.) W.: 80 cm (31 ½ in.) D.: 40 cm (15 ¾ in.) Dimensions (open top): H.: 75 cm (29 ½ in.) W.: 79.5 cm (31 ¼ in.) D.: 80 cm (31 ½ in.) Provenance: Piva Gallery, Milan; Acquired from the latter by the current owner. A Neoclassical walnut, ebony, rosewood, satinwood, amaranth and bois citrononnier games' table, by Giuseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814) * Information to buyers: For an exit from the EU, a re-export CITES may be required, this being at the expense of the future purchaser. * Information to buyers: For an exit from the EU, a CITES re-export certificate will be necessary, at the buyer's expense. This game table can be attributed to the corpus of the famous Milanese cabinetmaker Giuseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814). He became "intarsiatore ufficiale" of the archduke's highnesses of Lombardy under Habsburg domination, and his fame spread all over Europe. The King of Poland Stanislas Poniatowski, Maria Carolina of Naples as well as the courts of Vienna, Modena and Parma called upon him. In Maggiolini's work the game tables are divided into two categories: "tavolo da gioco con coperto ribaltabile ricoperto di marocchino verde" ("with a folding top with a green felt interior") or "tavolo da gioco con coperto piegabile" ("game table with a folding top"); our table belongs to the second category. The archive of the "Fondo Maggiolini" of the Milan Castle's drawing room preserves the preparatory drawings corresponding to the rich inlaid decoration of the top of our piece, mixing an eagle with spread wings (Fig. 1 FM B 420) holding laurel branches inscribed in a rhombus surrounded by a frieze of stylized foliage (Fig. 2 FM A 435) with spandrels adorned with griffins (Fig. 3 FM A 197). Finally, it should be remembered that the top of our example, when opened, shows the same inlaid decoration of a bouquet of flowers in the natural state that can be found on a pair of game tables preserved in the Civiche Raccolte d'Arte Applicata of the city of Milan (cf. G. Beretti, Giuseppe Maggiolini, L'officina del Neoclassicismo, Edizioni Libreria Malavasi, Milan, 1994, p. 191).