Furniture of Palazzo Davanzati

The Palazzo Davanzati is a restored 14th century medieval palazzo in the centre of Florence, and nowadays a museum containing late medieval and renaissance decorative arts, including furniture. The palazzo is renowned for its walls decorated with frescoes.

Palazzo Davanzati in 2018 just before opening time.

A short history of the palazzo

Around 1349 the palazzo was built by the Davizzis, a merchant and banking family returning to Florence after a stay in Avignon at the papal court. When their fortune began to decline, the house was sold and ended up in the hands of the Davanzati family, who owned it for several centuries. The large emblem installed on the front of the palazzo is of the Davanzati family. The last heir of this family committed suicide in 1838 by throwing himself of the building. Then, its use changed and the palazzo was downstairs occupied by several shops and warehouses and the remaining upstairs floors as flats for poor families. The palazzo was acquired in the early 20th century by Elia Volpi, a painter and antique dealer, who restored it in its former medieval glory - or what was thought as what medieval mansions looked like - and filled it with medieval antiques. The premises were used as a private museum for six years, after which the inventory was auctioned (e.g. the medieval bed (letto a cassoni) was sold to the Metropolitan museum of art, and later found to be a reconstruction of a medieval bed). Volpi then restarted to fill the palace with new medieval furniture. The palazzo then was bought by another antique dealer, the Benjugat brothers, and eventually became a state property and again a museum. Some pieces of the second collection of Elia Volpi are still (or back) in place in the current museum.

The (reconstructed) letto a cassoni of the first furniture set of 1910 on display in the palazzo. The bed is still marked as second half of the 15th century at the MET (accession number 65.221.1). Image scanned from 'La storia del Palazzo'.

Two rooms (Parrots Hall and the Great Hall on the first floor) of the palazzo with their current display.

 A fresco cycle containing the legend of La chastelaine de Vergi.

The furniture of the palazzo

The current collection of the museum consists of genuine medieval and renaissance art, mixed with 19th-20th century reproductions and antiques from other centuries. Not always is clear what belongs to which period and this is complicated by the fact that some pieces were fabricated out of different original parts or changed and modified according to the taste and beliefs of the early 20th century. Reproductions made in the 19th century (i.e. similar to what the Thomasguild does), however, are still informative on how these furniture types, such as many of the folding chairs in the palazzo, are constructed. It is also more likely that you are allowed to handle these reproductions, as they are less valuable and rare. The collection of the palazzo Davanzati therefore should be viewed with care. Below, I only show the furniture pieces from the palazzo restricted to the medieval and renaissance period, as well as reproductions from these periods. The pieces are annotated with help of the book on the furniture collection of the palazzo.

Sedia Dantesca dating from the first half of the 20th century. A reproduction with artificially aged wood and imitation woodworm holes, but with authentic velvet fabric. Height 87 cm, width 73 cm, depth 53 cm.

The seating consists of two parts: a thick leather underlayer, fastened with large brass studs on the wood, on which a velvet cushion rests. The backrest is padded with the same velvet and nailed with the same type of brass studs.

A fratina chair of a set of 10, originating from 17th century from Tuscany. This chair type did not exist in medieval or renaissance times, but has old looks. Carved walnut and poplar with leather and brass studs. Height  117 cm, width 41 cm, depth 52 cm.

Chest or trunk, 16th century with 19th century additions. The fir boards that make up the chest are original (except the base), however, the thin iron sheets were restored and the square pieces of antique velvet added. Originating from Lombardy. Height 65 cm, width 133 cm, depth 42 cm.

The hinges of the lid of the chest are placed at a third of the curved top.  The sides of the chest have iron handles for transport.

 

Left: The later added velvet pieces.  Right: The underside of the chest.

Cassone dating from the 15th-16th century. made from poplar and decorated with three household scenes with a child and an old man. Height 57.5 cm, width 169.5 cm, depth 31.5 cm. Originating from Umbria.

The same cassone, with a mural locker above serving as an altar.

Lettuccio, a daybed or coffer-bench dating from the third quarter of the 16th century. made from carved walnut on a poplar frame. height 101 cm, width 246 cm, depth 101 cm. Origin Tuscany.

A cassone dating from the mid 15th century from Florence. The chest is made from poplar and covered with painted vellum. It has three locks and iron handles. The firwood feet are not original. The coat of arms with intertwined bands is attributed to the Florentine Ridolfi di Ponte family. The front and the lid have two diamond rings alongside the coat of arms with the motto 'Pensa al Fine' (think of the purpose), which is the device of the Albani family of Orvieto. Height 54 cm, width 146 cm, depth 46 cm.

Closer view of the coats of arms and the motto.

This bed was part of the second furniture layout in the palazzo by Elia Volpi. The bed from carved walnut and poplar dates from the 16th century but has extensive 20th century alterations. Originally, the bedposts would have been twice their current length and holding a canopy. The bed headboard was added from a chest panel and the crownings are likely from ecclesiastical origin, making the composition an early 20th century fantasy.  Height 173 cm, width 226 cm, depth 176 cm.

Walnut table, Italian dating from the 16th century. Height 87 cm, width 209 cm, depth 79 cm. Around the table are several scabello chairs.

The construction is similar to that of the X-legged trestle or 'cloister' tables that can easily be taken apart and transported.

Venetian casket from the mid 16th century made from carved walnut veneer on a fir wood carcase. Height 42 cm, width 92 cm, depth 36 cm.

Also this casket has its hinge located at the domed top.

Savoranola chair without backrest. The museum hosts many of these chairs - both with and without backrest that are still being used as chair by the museum staff (hence no rope attached). These chairs all date from the early 20th century, but their construction is identical to their medieval counterparts. Walnut, height 77 cm, width 59 cm, depth 52.5 cm.

Mini cassone dating from the 16th century. Painted poplar. Origin Tuscany. Height 15.5 cm, width 33.5 cm, depth 14.5 cm.

 

French casket dating from the 13th-14th century. Beech and poplar faced with an embossed tin lamina. 

Height 14 cm, width 24.5 cm, depth 11 cm.

 Casket from the 16th century, iron on a beech frame of Italian manufacture. 
This metal casket was already in the Elia Volpi collection. Height 13.5 cm, width 43 cm, depth 16 cm. 

Armour cabinet attributed to Bartholomeo di David from Sienna and dated 1530. Made from gilded and painted poplar. The coat of arms of the Verdelli family is shown on the first and fourth door. This cabinet was part of the first furniture set of Elia Volpi in the palazzo. Height 195.5 cm, width 221.5 cm, depth 58 cm.

Late 15th century chest from northern Italy. Walnut with intarsia decorations. Height 45 cm, width 98 cm, depth 45 cm.

Late 15th-early 16th century chest from Lombardy. Walnut with intarsia decorations; the heraldic sign on the front contains the Chigi coat of arms quartered with the Rovere coat of arms. Height 57 cm, width 128 cm, depth 50 cm. 

Left: On top of the chest are geometric patterns. The pattern in the middle looks like a chessboard. Right: a detail of the intarsia

 

Left: The quartered coat of arms of two families.

Chest from Sienese manufacture from the mid 14th - early 15th century. Poplar decorated in relief with gesso and gilded tin sheets. Interior of the chest is covered with linen; the back and underside of the chest are lined with vellum. The manner of decoration of this type of chest is described in detail by Cennino Cennini in his book Libro dell'Arte (around 1400). The chest originates from the Arcispedale of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence.  Height 57 cm, width 143 cm, depth 55 cm.



Similar chests of the same origin are at the MET (New York, Left), the Cini Collection in Venice (Middle) and the V&A (London, Right) museums. Photos taken from their respective websites and copyright of the museums.

Four-poster bed dated from the second half of the 16th century from Tuscany. Turned and carved walnut. The headboard with dolphins and the finials do not belong to the original piece. Height 252 cm, width 164 cm, depth 214 cm.

Chest (front) from Verona dating from around 1440, and remounted into a chest during the previous century. Fir, tempera with gesso reliefs, elm chest lid. The front panel is 22 mm thick. The paintings on the front depict scenes from the Judgement of Paris: The quarrel of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite at the fountain (left); the three goddesses led to Mount Ida (middle); the three goddesses awaiting the judgement of Paris (right). Height 60 cm (panel 55 cm), width 142 cm, depth 49 cm.

 

In more detail: the quarrel of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite at the fountain (left) and the three goddesses awaiting the judgement of Paris (right).

 The not original lid, side and bottom of the chest.

Oak and fir cupboard from the 15th century with motifs added in the late 19th century. Origin Northern Italy or Alpine region. Insect erosion points to its use as a pantry. Height 170 cm, width 61 cm, depth 40 cm.

The top doors, locking mechanism and openwork carving of the cupboard.

The iron hinges of the top doors.

The bottom door and the side of the cupboard.

Sources:

• Teodori, B., Chiarugi, S. and Celani, J., 2016. Through the twentieth century - the collections of palazzo Davanzati. Volume 2. Furniture. Sillabe Casa Editrice, Livorno, Italy. ISBN 978-88-8347-893-2.
• Vaccari, M.G., 2011. Palazzo Davanzati. A house of medieval Florence. Giunti Editore S.p.A., Florence, Italy. ISBN 978-88-09-76962-5.
• Vaccari, M.G., 2011. La Storia del Palazzo. Nelle immagini del novecento. Edizioni Polistampa, Florence, Italy. ISBN 978-88-596-1020-5.
• Cennino d'Andrea Cennini, translated by D.V. Thompson (1954). The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell' Arte". Dover press. ISBN 978-0486200545.

A medieval drawer

We are planning to make a new piece of medieval furniture for a Dutch castle that will also contain a drawer. While there are plenty of examples on how modern drawers are constructed, there is virtually nothing on medieval drawers. We asked the caretakers of Castle Muiderslot if they would be willing to let us examine a few pieces of their medieval furniture to solve some constructional questions that we had, and we were very happy that we could. One of the furniture items we examined was a medieval drawer from an armoire.

Medieval drawers

Medieval drawers start to appear in the 15th century and can be found in several types of furniture. In its most simple form, it can be found in archive cupboards. These drawers are boxes consisting of nailed pieces of wood with no decoration except some  paint designating their content. Most of them have some sort of metal ring or finger tab to pull the box out of their shelves. The archive drawers were used to safely store scrolls and other documents. In a similar vain, but a bit more sophisticatedly made are the drawers that can be found on inside of chests. These more or less function as some sort of 'secret' drawer.

A multidrawer archive cupboard in the muniment room, Vicars Choral, Wells, UK. Dated 1458-1470. The drawers have finger tabs to pull them out of the armoire. The purpose of the nails on the front of the drawer is unclear; perhaps they held the description of the contents of the boxes. Image scanned from P. Eames - Furniture History Volume XIII.

A multidrawer archive cupboard in the Aerary, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, UK. Dated 1500-1530. The drawers consist of nailed pieces of wood, without any refinement and have different types of iron pulling rings. On the front a description of the contents is crudely written. Image scanned from P. Eames - Furniture History XIII.

Archive chest with doors and drawers of the Spanish merchants of Bruges. The chest originally contained four simple drawers of which two remain. Gruuthuuse museum, Bruges, Belgium. Dated 1441. Image scanned from P. Eames - Furniture History XIII.

Chest originating from Lombardy, 15th-16th century, made from walnut and decorated with geometric intasia inlays. The inside of the chest contains several small drawers. Height 67 cm, width 139 cm and depth 61.5 cm. Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy. Image scanned from F. Windisch-Graetz - Mobel Europas - Romanik - Gotik.

There were also drawers that were visually integrated into the actual furniture piece. The larger drawers had iron grips to pull them out, but smaller ones, such as those on a dressoir did not. They were pulled open by hand from the underside of the drawer.

 

A chest for transport of tapestries containing a large drawer with two handles. The drawer did have its own lock and rested directly on the bottom of the chest. Made from walnut, second half of the 15th century. Length 175 cm, height 75 cm, depth 63 cm.Image scanned from J. Boccador - Le mobilier Francais du moyen age a la renaissance. 

 

A chest with drawers decorated with carved Gothic texts and a bottom with hunting scenes. Each drawer contains one handle. The bottom drawer rests on the bottom of the chest, but the upper two have a sliding rail that rests in a groove in the side of the chest. Austria, second half of the 15th century. Image scanned from S. Muller-Christensen - Oude Meubels.

 

An oak dressoir with two drawers dating from around 1480-1490. The two drawers do not have handles and are pulled open by hand. This is the normal situation for this type of furniture. Height 145.5 cm, width 99 cm, depth 48.5 cm. Image scanned from J. Boccador - Le mobilier Francais du moyen age a la renaissance.

A highly decorated sacristy armoire, originating from Tirol, Austria, and dating from the end of the 15th century. The armoire consists of 5 pieces that can easily be taken apart (for transport; hence the handles at the sides). The middle ring of the armoire is large enough to contain three drawers. München, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Germany. Image scanned from S. Muller-Christensen - Oude Meubels.

A drawer from an early 16th century armoire (1510) showing some construction details. The front of the drawer is slightly wedge-shaped and has a groove at the bottom to contain the bottom plank(s). The bottom is wider than the actual drawer, thus creating a sliding rail for a groove. Image scanned from J. Boccador - Le mobilier Francais du moyen age a la renaissance. 

The drawer of the armoire at Castle Muiderslot 

 

Oak armoire C1922-211, dated 1500-1600 at the Muiderslot, Muiden, the Netherlands . Height 178 cm, width 125 cm, depth 60 cm. Image left copyright Muiderslot.

Although images of medieval drawers can be found, actual information on the construction is scarce and incomplete. I did find some answers with the dressoir of Chateau Langeais (see that post), where one lost panel provided a different view to the drawer, but no information was visible on the back of a drawer or the inside of the armoire. All our questions on the drawer construction were solved at the Muiderslot. From the late 15th century oak armoire (object nr. C1922-211) one drawer was removed and could be inspected by us from all sides. Interestingly, dovetails were used in the construction, both for the front end as a half-dovetail, as for the back  end with one very large dovetail. The bottom plank was just nailed with square wooden pins to all four sides. The bottom  plank extended at the sides, so that it could fit into a sliding groove in the armoire. To easy the sliding, the end were slightly chamfered.

Left: The backside of the drawer is fitted with one large dovetail. Right: The inside of the drawer. There is no lock, and the iron nails of the pulling ring are well hidden. The front panel extends on both sides.

Left: The underside of the drawer consists of one thin oaken plank (but now split into two pieces)  that is nailed to the 4 sides with wooden nails. The underside is as wide as the front panel; the protruding sides are a bit chamfered. Right: A detail of some of the square wooden nails. 


A detail of the square nails fixing the bottom plank to the front panel.

Left: The side of the drawer. The bottom plank extends a bit into the front panel (making nailing possible). 

Right: The sides are fixed in the front panel by a half-dovetail.

Left: The side view of the large dovetail at the back of the drawer. It is further fixed by two pins. Right: The back view of the large dovetail. The dovetail extends from the actual drawer. Perhaps this was used as a stopper, preventing the drawer to go too deep into the armoire.

Here both sides of the dovetail at the back can be seen. It also clearly shows the chamfered end of the bottom plank.

It was a bit darker inside the armoire, but with help of some light from our mobile phones, it became much clearer.  In the armoire two rails with a groove were made. They are either fitted with a tenon and mortise to the frame of the armoire or by extra long pins of the frame construction. Two more modern wooden rails (the wood has a different colour) were later added to the side of the groove in order to stabilise the drawer movement.

Left: The pins that fix the mortise and tenon of the frame can also be large enough to fix the sliding rail of the drawer behind it. A different piece of wood has been added later to the sliding rail. Right: The sliding rail of the other side.

A view of the back of the armoire from the inside. A separate frame and panel is constructed at the back 

for the two drawers. Also the drawer compartment has floor boards, which are not strictly necessary.

Sources:  

• Eames, P.  1977. Furniture in England, France and the Netherlands from the twelfth to the fifteenth century.  Furniture history, Volume XII.
• Dubbe, B. 2012. Huusraet. Het stedelijk woonhuis in de Bourgondische tijd. Uitgeverij PolderVonsten, Hoorn, the Netherlands. ISBN 341-5688-943-1. 
• Windisch-Graetz, F. 1982. Mobel Europas I – von Romanik bis zum Spatgotik. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munchen, Germany. ISBN 3-7814-0212-6
• Boccador, J. 1988. Le mobilier francais du moyen age a la renaissance. Edition dÁrt Monelle Hayot, St-Just-en-Chaussee, France. ISBN 2-903824-13-4.
• Blanc, M. 1999. Le mobilier francais – moyen age renaissance. Editeur massin, Paris, France. ISBN 2-7072-0346-7.
• Müller-Christensen, S. 1974. Oude Meubels - van de middeleeuwen tot de jugenstil. Schuyt & co., Haarlem, the Netherlands. ISBN 90-6097-048-9.