Asta Bidspirit | Tête-à-tête sofa in mecca gold

Tête-à-tête sofa in mecca gold and silver wood from the ”grotto” furniture series, Pauly et Cie - backrest sculpted with two dolphins with intertwined tails; shell seat; wavy line legs carved with shells.Venice, early 20th century, cm. 74x126x71 (gilding and silvering worn; seat restored)Bibl.: B.M.Newman, Mobili di Fantasia, Milan, 1989, p. 77 Since the birth of the goddess of love Aphrodite, the shell has always evoked a sense of the magical and exotic in art. The success of this motif reached its peak at the courts of Kings Louis XIV andThe need to furnish the gardens, in which the presence of water was a fundamental part, determined the birth and diffusion of the ”grotto” motif which, as a mysterious cave often used as a scenography for the construction of fountains or water features , had strong ties with the world of the sea. This fashion quickly spread throughout Europe, also contaminating cabinet-making with the construction of furniture inspired by the theme of the grotto, even if it is not yet clear where and when exactly this decorative style in furnishings was born. Everything points to Venice as a place of origin and diffusion, especially in the cabinet-making of Pauly and Remi, from whose workshops many furnishings for grottos came out until the '30s.