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| Attributed to Giuseppe Sarao, Box, about 1725-45. J. Paul Getty Museum, gift of Ann and Gordon Getty |
J. Paul Getty had five children, two of them notable art collectors. His first son, J. Paul Jr., lived in England and occasionally thwarted purchases of dad's L.A. museum in favor of British institutions. The fourth child, Gordon Getty, is a classical composer and dilettante without portfolio. "I have always felt sure that Einstein was wrong," Gordon told one interviewer. "I have long wanted to disprove his theory of relativity but, frankly, have not found the time to do it."
As a collector, Gordon favored European decorative arts and paintings for the San Francisco mansion he shared with his late wife Ann. Most of the couple's collection was dispersed in a series of Christie's auctions in 2022-2023, with proceeds benefitting the San Francisco Opera, Symphony, and other charities. Some were disappointed that the star lot, a large Canaletto view painting, was not donated to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Socialite and power broker Diane "Dede" Wilsey intervened by buying the Canaletto for the Fine Arts Museum in a private sale.
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| Canaletto, Venice, the Grand Canal Looking East with Santa Maria della Salute, 1749-1750. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco |
It turns out that Gordon did donate a few decorative arts pieces to his father's L.A. museum. The gifts are three deluxe boxes and a tray attributed to 18th-century Italian craftsman Giuseppe Sarao (active 1725-1745) and Pietro Piffetti (1701-1777). Neither was previously represented in the collection.
Though the makers are Italian, there is a French connection. A box attributed to Sarao (top of post) has the arms of Louis XV concealed inside its lid. It was probably commissioned as a French diplomatic gift. Active in Naples, Sarao specialized in objects in tortoiseshell, gold, and mother of pearl, known as piqué. The Getty box is decorated with chinoiserie figures.
Sarao is best-known for a table in the Hermitage. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has two tortoiseshell pieces.
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| Attributed to Pietro Piffetti (box, about 1748-51) and Baradel le jeune (interior, about 1780), Box. Getty Museum, gift of Ann and Gordon Getty |
A box by Pietro Piffetti is a Franco-Italian hybrid, with an interior supplied by French artisan Baradel (le jeune) about 30 years after the ornate exterior's creation. Interest in Piffetti's furniture seems to be trending. The Art Institute of Chicago bought
a Prie-Dieu by Piffetti in 2016, and the Metropolitan Museum added
a spectacular Commode in 2020.
Both boxes shown here are now on view in the Getty Center's gallery E103. Also on view, in the South Pavilion's South Hall, is a new (2023) set of gifts of French porcelain from Pasadena collector MaryLou Boone, spanning the Chambrette, Chantilly, and Sceaux manufactories.
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| Chantilly Porcelain Manufactory, Recumbent Chamois, about 1740-45. Getty Museum, gift of MaryLou Boone |
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| Sceaux Manufactory, Cup and Saucer, 1750-1760. Getty Museum, gift of MaryLou Boone |
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| Chambrette Manufactory, Lidded Box, about 1770. Getty Museum, gift of MaryLou Boone |
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