Bedside table

At the end of the eighteenthcentury, Neoclassicism dominated throughout Europe. Furniture changed to meetthe new requirements of families, who were commissioning smaller furniture,better suited to use in all the rooms of the palazzi, even those once used only for entertaining. New types offurniture were created, such as desks, tables and bedside tables. When theViennese court moved to Milan, the city became an important artistic centre,where craftsmen could open thriving workshops that turned out pieces ofexceptional quality. Notable among them was Giuseppe Maggiolini, creator ofsome of the finest furniture of his age. Here wehave the example of a bedside table characterised by long slender legs. On thefront it has an inlay with a decorative motif depicting two scrolls of acanthusleaves emerging from a goblet. Several variations of this decorative motif canbe seen in the FondoMaggioliniano, Castello Sforzesco, Milan, which conservesthe model drawings of the workshop.