Upper Cover with a Carved & Painted Figure of the Archangel Michael and Lower Cover with the Arms of Gabriel del Commune of Sienna 1497.

Two bevelled-edged wooden boards extracted from an Italian tempera-painted bookbinding, the upper cover carved & painted with a figure of the Archangel Michael, the lower carved and painted with a variety of arms and an inscription stating that this was the property of Gabriel del Commune of Siena, dated 1487.

A late 19th-century forgery, likely Siena: circa 1890s. (420 x 295 mm); the two gessoed wooden boards decorated with gold and tempera, several remaining metal bosses in the corners. Some wear, cracking, etc.(deliberate distressing), but still highly decorative, with traces of a leather spine attached to the rear board.

The panels of this binding resemble those that would customarily be found on a Sienese Tavolette di Biccherna. These account books, produced from the 13th to 17th centuries, are renowned for their ornate and decorative bindings. These were frequently forged in the nineteenth century, most notably by Icilio Frederico Joni (1866–1946), whose undetected forgeries ended up gracing important collections, including those of Hoe and Wilmerding. This is an exceptional example of Joni’s wor.

He was a very skilled gilder and restorer, who wrote an account of his career as Le memoriedi un pittore di quadri antichi in 1932.

For further discussion of Joni’s activity producing imitation “tavolette della biccherna”, see H.M. Nixon’s ‘Binding Forgeries’, Transactions of the VIth International Congress of Bibliophiles, 1969, Vienna, 1971, pp. 69-83], and ‘A Pair of Bookcovers of the late 19th Century by I.F. Joni,The Book Collector, 1985, pp. 488-489