SET OF FOUR PLAQUES, 17th CENTURY ITALIAN WORK, PROBABLY FLORENCE In hardstone marquetry, depicting an elephant, a camel, a lion and another feline, the black marble background surrounded by a Sienna yellow marble border, in blackened wood frames of later date. Size (unframed): 11 x 14.5 cm (4 ¼ x 5 ¾ in.) A set of four Italian 17th century pietra dura panels, probably Florence This set of four 17th-century hardstone panels is attributable to the Galleria de' Lavori, the famous Florentine factory founded by Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany in 1588 and later known as the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Our plaques are made using the commesso technique, which consists of assembling hard stones of various shapes, colours and sizes, then applying them to a marble background to simulate the effects of a painting. These plaques are precious evidence of the craze for exotic animals in the decorative arts in the 17th and 18th centuries. Lions, camels and elephants were described by explorers, then reproduced in engravings, before being reinterpreted by artists who were quick to incorporate them into the decorative arts. In this respect, it is interesting to note that the plate depicting the elephant presented here can be compared with an engraving in the British Museum in London (cf. fig. 1) by Adriaen Collaert (1560-1618), a Flemish artist from Antwerp. The animal subjects on our plates are similar to those found on important 17th-century Florentine cabinets, such as the one sold at Christie's London, Exceptional Sale, on 13 October 2021, lot 2, or the one sold at Christie's London, on 23 July 2020, lot 42.