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Janetti Padre & Figli

Pair of oriental-style table lamps, Late 19th century

Height x diameter: 80 x 45 cm

oval-shaped, made of ivory-colored ceramic, decorated with naturalistic motifs depicting birds, insects, and plant tendrils in golden hues. It features molded side handles and a perforated base. The mark visible on the bottom belongs to Emporio Janetti Padre e Figli, a prominent antique and art dealer active in the second half of the 19th century in Florence, Turin, and Rome.

Literature:
Emporio Janetti, founded by Francesco Janetti and carried on by his sons, was one of the most prestigious destinations for antiques and luxury applied arts in post-unification Italy during the second half of the 19th century. Based in the prestigious Palazzo Antinori in Florence, the firm distinguished itself through a forward-thinking business strategy, opening branches in Turin and Rome to cater to the high aristocracy and the emerging bourgeoisie of the Kingdom’s capitals.

The firm owes its international fame above all to its pioneering role in “Japonism” in Italy. Thanks to a network of direct contacts in the Far East, particularly through Vittorio Aymonin, a silkworm seed merchant residing in Japan, Janetti was among the first to systematically import Satsuma ceramics, bronzes, and lacquerware of the highest quality. Among his most famous clients was the collector Frederick Stibbert, who, between the 1870s and 1880s, purchased about two-thirds of his vast Japanese collection from Janetti.

In addition to imports, the emporium was known for its selection of “period-style” furnishings, such as onyx and bronze clocks and European ceramics decorated in the Oriental style, often displayed at the major national and international exhibitions of the time.

M. Papini, Emporio Janetti Padre e Figli and the Japanese Art Market in Florence in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century, in "Journal for Art Market Studies", vol. 2, n. 3, 2018.

M. Becattini, La genesi della collezione giapponese e gli allestimenti storici, in Samurai! Armature Giapponesi dalla Collezione Stibbert, Sillabe, Livorno 2013.

A. Gardner, A Bibliographical Repertory of Italian Private Collections, vol. V, Istituto per l'Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma.