Banded overall with Rococo scrolls and flowers, the domed silk velvet-lined roof with pierced repoussé foliate mounts, above a red foliate silk-velvet damask-lined interior with tasselled fringing, the panels painted with classical vignettes of sporting putti framed by scrolling flower and foliage.

Dimensions: 180 x 88 x 110 cm; 71 by 34½ by 43¼ in

Provenance: Alberto Pucci di Benesichi Collection, Sicily

Catalogue note: Some of Neapolitan sedan chairs are preserved in permanent museum collections, such as the one attributed to Giacinto Diano (1731-1804) at the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia. Others have appeared on the art market, including one with mythological scenes attributed to Francesco de Mura sold at Sotheby’s London in 1996, and another with painted panels attributed to Giacinto Diano (1730-1803), sold at Christie’s London in 2001

Biography: G. Morazzoni, Il Settecento Italiano, Milano-Roma, 1932, p. 27.