45-AL-2006_Nichelino, Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, L. Prinotto (attr.) Double-bodied Deer Chest of Drawers, inv. 2346

Facilitated description: 

 

The double body is a wooden cabinet formed by a chest of drawers with writing desk and at the top a wardrobe with door.
It is also known as deer chest of drawers for the deer hunting scene represented in the center.
Luigi Prinotto made the chest of drawers in 1730-1735 with different types of wood, ivory and bronze.
The furniture is kept at the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale restored the double body in 2006-2007 after the discovery of the piece of furniture. The double body was stolen in 2004.
The restorers have placed the furniture in an anoxic chamber (room without oxygen that serves to eliminate insects that feed on wood).
They carried out a cleaning (cleaned the surface from the dirt deposited over time or from the layers of old restorations).
The restorers reconstructed three legs and two frames with the same type of wood.
The restorers consolidated (made more stable) the parts of wood that were detaching.
The cabinet had gaps (missing parts) in the wooden decoration. 
The restorers integrated (filled) a gap in the decoration with the same type of wood. 
Finally, they painted the furniture to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the chest of drawers with a folding desk and raised to a door (double body) attributed to Luigi Prinotto was completed in 2007 under the supervision of Pinin Brambilla Barcilon. The cabinet is also known deer chest of drawers for the scene represented in the center of the limelight. The intervention was carried out on the occasion of the discovery of the nucleus of works stolen from the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi in 2004. After the restoration, the work was relocated to the Palazzina.

 

Restoration

The work was subjected to a disinfestation treatment in anoxic chamber. Subsequently, surface cleaning was carried out. The three legs were then reinstated with walnut wood and the lower frame of the poplar wood mirror and the lower right frame of the walnut wood elevation were reconstructed. Wooden inlay tiles that had lost adhesion were repositioned and glued. The missing parts of the decoration were integrated with wooden essences similar to the originals. Finally, it was itself to buffer a protective film based on paint.

 

Bibliography

S. De Blasi, Sheet 4, in "The restoration of wooden furnishings. The Piedmontese cabinet-making: studies and research", edited by C. E. Spantigati, S. De Blasi, Firenze, Nardini, 2011, pp. 86-92.