Francesco Grandi

(Sorrente 1841-1934)

Guéridon
Rosewood, amaranth, fruitwood, ivory marquetry, pen engraved
Italy ca. 1878
Signed: Inv. M. Grandi, Inscription: F. Grandi-Fece
Height: 84 cm, diameter: 94 cm

In the neo pompeian style, the circular top centred with a scene showing Egyptian figures embarking at a port, with four similar scenes around the border.

Francesco Enrico Grandi was born in 1841. He was celebrated as an engraver and intarsiatore, being active in Sorrento, an area renowned for such work. In 1886, he founded a school of carving with his fellow artisan  Arturo Guidi, who had shown work at the International Exhibition in Vienna in 1873, including a table with scenes from the life of Christoper Columbus, which was purchased by king Vittorio Emmanuele II. Grandi exhibited his work at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, and was invited to show his celebrated objects  at the Chicago World Fair in 1893.