G. Manni Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Giovanni Manni (1907 - 1983) was born in 1907 and died in 1983. He, who was a skilled carpenter, at the age of sixty-five had taken up the wheelwright's tools again, an activity he had abandoned after the Second World War, when people he needed furniture and fixtures more than carts. Read the full biography

Giovanni Manni (1907 - 1983) was born in 1907 and died in 1983. He, who was a skilled carpenter, at the age of sixty-five had taken up the wheelwright's tools again, an activity he had abandoned after the Second World War, when people he needed furniture and fixtures more than carts. And right from the age of 65 and for ten consecutive years Manni built wagons, wheelbarrows, carts, gigs, barrels, carriages and miniature agricultural tools. His was not just a hobby as he received recognition in all the exhibitions he participated in. Real wooden works, built following the best experience of the blacksmith and carpenter, handed down from shop to shop. The exhibition presented in the Sala della Loggia is a true museum of peasant civilization. The wagon from Modena, Bologna and Reggio Emilia, the barrels, the cart, the gig, the manure carrier, the humble wheelbarrow. The various barrels for wine, as well as plows and the farmer's daily tools. Giovanni Manni also built a whole series of nineteenth-century carriages, with fine woods, period lacquering and leather, brass and polished iron.