Luigi Frullini Hand Carved 5 Foot Bench

I recently had the distinct pleasure of handling a suite of 6 pieces of furniture built by the Italian master, Luigi Frullini (Italian, 1839 – 1897). What sublime carving! It was definitely a highlight of last years estate buying…and selling.

Frullini exhibited furniture at the Great International Exhibitions in London, Paris and Vienna. The wood-carvings of this Florentine artist are well known in England and the United States. They are in many fine houses, both as decorations, in the way of friezes, ceilings, chimney-pieces,three-dimensional carvings of people, animals and flowers,articles of furniture, picture-frames, and ornamental boxes, medallions, and articles of fantasia. In 1896, he went to the United States to exhibit more of his furniture at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. His works were inspired by the carved pieces of the Italian Renaissance. His elaborate pieces set the fashion for the last years of the 19th century.

The pieces by Frullini were made by carving into a large block of wood; he did not apply small carved pieces to a large board. To accommodate all the carved decorations, he made huge pieces. It was not furniture for the average bedroom, but it was suited to the huge homes of millionaires and museums.