Early 20th Century Pair Eclectic Venice Chairs In Walnut By Testolini Frères

Spectacular pair of chairs extensively carved in the eclectic style of the Art Nouveau period by the Testolini Brothers of Venice. In hand-carved and ebonized walnut.
Due to their elegance and refinement they embellish any type of context

ABOUT TESTOLINI
The Testolinis were definitely at the forefront of their times and, not being able to immediately create the glass creations they designed, they subcontracted the production to the Salviati company, with which, however, they signed an economic-commercial agreement, which meant that their products, especially the furniture, were also resold in their international stores. The Testolinis, in fact, supplied all the major international retailers, and in their shops there was a volume with the shipping costs of each individual object, which any private buyer could have browsed if they intended to have the purchased pieces shipped. In addition to the shipping costs, there were also the sales prices of each creation, divided according to quality: I, II or III. In fact, another extraordinary thing for the time was that the Testolini Brothers created three production lines for each model in the catalogue, to ensure that every social group could access their products.

With an uncommon intelligence, the Testolinis distributed free advertising material and small sales catalogues, as well as postcards, which portrayed their major sales locations with exquisite taste; they even went as far as distributing free tourist guides at the city train station, where naturally many pages were dedicated to their locations and achievements. What was destined to become a lesson was the possibility for each Testolini customer to receive a ticket with which they could visit their Murano furnaces for free.

Production never stopped: between the goods sold in their shops, those sent to third parties and those given to Salviati and CVM, the Testolinis found themselves forced to subcontract work to all the Venetian artisans, especially the most skilled ones, who often rewarded granting them the possibility of reproducing some models from their catalogue. Their intense production led them to adopt all the most modern machinery, which led to the modernization of the entire city, so much so that for this reason, prior to 1896, they were awarded first the knighthood and then the title of Officers of the Order of the Crown , for the progress and development brought to Venetian industry. Honors that the Testolinis were proud to show off together with the prizes won at all the national and international exhibitions in which they had participated.

In the long life of the company - it lasted almost a century - several variations of the same name were used, Fratelli Testolini, M.Q. Testolini, Testolini, together with their foreign language variants Testolini Brothers or Frères, which often generates some misunderstanding.

Very interesting and truly pioneering in behavior is the fact that, given the international public that visited their stores, the employees were selected based on their knowledge of different languages, in order to make foreign customers feel more at ease.

Unlike today, the most appreciated and requested product in Venice in the 19th century was carved furniture, a sector in which the Testolinis truly excelled, and in any case they dedicated themselves with equal imagination and professionalism to glass creations, designing models that are still in production today and even inventing a new typology of objects with a simple and elegant shape, cobalt blue in colour, but with an exuberant enamel decoration imitating lace.

Carved furniture was their cornerstone; they even invented the only original style of the 19th century, the cave style. They then designed highly original Umbertine style furniture, whose success lasted uninterrupted until the company closed. They indulged in neo-rococo and defined what is recognized in furniture as the Italian neo-Renaissance.

They enjoyed creating mirrors of all types, with open mirrors embraced by dragons or devils, or surrounded by series of cherubs; some had colored glass frames, others micromosaics, still others combined carvings, glass and mosaics.

Every piece that came out of the Testolini laboratories was a masterpiece of imagination, ingenuity and mastery, but unfortunately, despite the inexhaustible artistic vein, the Testolinis also found themselves having to deal with the unexpected: at the end of the 19th century, a very strong economic stagnation led many companies to close or downsize; to escape bad luck, as well as due to the disinterest shown by one of the two cousins to whom the company had been inherited, a merger was opted for with other important companies, including Salviati and Jesurum, which were merged under the aegis of Salviati Jesurum & Co. The merger was implemented only in 1902, and indeed it did not last until 1906, but led Testolini to give up a good part of its production, selling many of the highly appreciated and famous models to the other companies that became part of of the new large family and alienating many of the important exhibition and production sites.

Marco Testolini, unlike his cousin, did not abandon the company, on the contrary, he kept the carpentry workshop in Palazzo Labia active; he also tried to restore prestige to the family name by renaming the company, after the dissolution in 1906, with his name, Marco Testolini. The laboratory in Palazzo Labia continued its production, supplying as always the other companies, including Pauly & Cie, which had recently purchased their headquarters in Palazzo Barbarigo.

Additional dimensions information:

seat eight 49 cm