Blackmoors; Italy, 19th century.

Blackmoors; Italy, 19th century.
Carved, gilded and polychrome wood.
In need of restoration. One of the pieces has faults and restorations.
Measurements: 155 x 60 x 30 cm (x2).
This pair of Venetian servants made of carved, polychrome and gilded wood reproduces two male characters of African ethnicity dressed in a completely idealized way. Resting on a base of baroque design with pink marble simulation, the figures of these characters are very similar, although with slight differences that individualize each of the pieces of this set. The light anatomy, and the posture that is based on praxitelic models contribute to the gracefulness of both carvings.
The figures of "black slaves" as support for the furniture, as well as free-standing as candlesticks, appear in Venice in the late seventeenth century, by the hand of the cabinetmaker and sculptor Andrea Brustolon (1662 - 1732). His furniture was characterized by the abundant presence of sculpture, often even in the round. His most characteristic figures were black figures such as the one presented here, ebonized and painted, which served as supports for large pieces of furniture, or appeared free-standing. These figures were so popular throughout Europe that they became a key element in luxury Baroque furniture until well into the 18th century and, within the historicism, during the 19th century. They are pieces of exceptional carving quality, conceived as independent works of art. The iconography is the result of the taste for the exotic that characterized the eighteenth century, and that had continuity during the nineteenth century through the romantic spirit, which liked to reflect and fantasize about everything that was different and distant, both in time and space. This piece recreates the idealized eighteenth-century Venetian world, which symbolized in the new industrial century an elegance and luxury that could never be recovered. These types of pieces were worked in a meticulous and exquisite manner, paying as much attention to the carving as to the polychromy, which freely and fancifully reproduces rich embroidered fabrics.