Italian Marquetry Inlaid Music Box Table with Reuge "Love Story" Swiss Movement View Watchlist >
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Lot # F646
System ID # 29353587
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Italian Marquetry Inlaid Music Box Table with Reuge "Love Story" Swiss Movement
Lift the lid and the table plays. This Italian piece functions as both a fitted music box and a decorative side table — the Reuge Swiss musical movement triggers automatically when the octagonal-cut top is raised, releasing its tune into a shallow, divided interior sized for jewelry or small keepsakes. The top is a showcase of Italian floral marquetry: roses, daisies, scrolling acanthus, and foliage borders inlaid against a figured walnut ground, with double-line stringing to the chamfered edge and apron. Each curved cabriole leg carries a single inlaid flower stem ascending from foot to knee, extending the decorative program across the full piece.
Tables of this type were a signature product of mid-to-late 20th-century Italian decorative export work, closely associated with the Sorrento marquetry tradition on the Amalfi Coast, where inlay workshops had supplied European tourist and gift markets since the 19th century. Swiss Reuge movements were the standard mechanical complement — reliable, compact, and made specifically for furniture application. The combination of Italian cabinetwork and Swiss mechanism was a deliberate pairing that positioned these pieces at the upper end of the souvenir and decorative gift trade. A "Made in Italy" embossed plaque and the original Reuge label are both intact on the underside of the lid. The interior is shallow — 1 5/8" deep — making this primarily a music box with a display surface, not a storage table.
CONDITION
Good overall; movement tested and fully functional. Finish wear and age-appropriate wear throughout the case and legs. A crack is present to the front trim, visible when the lid is open. Structure is sturdy; lid hinge and hardware are sound. Key is absent.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- Overall: 19 1/8" H × 16 3/4" W × 12 3/4" D
- Interior Depth: 1 5/8"
- Musical Movement: Reuge, "Love Story," Swiss
- Origin: Italy (labeled "Made in Italy")
- Construction: Solids and veneers
- Interior: Divided / compartmented
- Key: Absent
- U.S. Dime Shown for Scale — Not Included
