Italian coin cabinet, Italy, 17th - 18th century

The front, designed as an architectural façade of monumental taste, is dominated in the centre by a niche with fluted gilded columns and Corinthian capitals, framing a niche housing a sculptural figure, probably allegorical or mythological. This section has an opening: the central door opens to reveal a compartment with internal compartments. The whole is surmounted by a triangular tympanum with painted decoration and gilded edges, above which there is an additional small door. On either side of the central aedicule, faux marble lacquered panels are embellished with gilded shells and rectangular mirrors. These also conceal side doors with two shelves inside. The lower part of the body is divided into three drawers: one under each side door and a larger central one. The coin cabinet rests on lion feet, which in turn rest on a base decorated with a rich golden frieze of racemes, symbolically recalling the abundance and collecting tastes of the period. The structure rests on an ebonised base with turned legs and shaped crossbars.