Giuseppe Maggiolini, himself a marquetry-maker, was the pre-eminent cabinet-maker in Milan in the later 18th century. Though some of his early work is Late Baroque in manner, his name is particularly associated with blocky neoclassical forms veneered with richly detailed marquetry vignettes, often within complicated borders. His workshop's output is somewhat repetitive, making attributions to Maggiolini a temptation. His clientele reached to Austria and Poland.
Born in Parabiago, near Milan, he was the son of Gilardo Maggiolini, a forester in the service of the Cistercian monastery of Sant'Ambrogio della Vittoria, and after apprenticeship in a woodworking shop he opened his own bottega in the town's central piazza, which today bears his name. In 1757 he married Antonia Vignati, from Villastanza; they had a single son, Francesco, born the following year.
The painter Giuseppe Levati consigned to Maggiolini work for marchese Pompeo Litta at Villa Litta, Lainate, near Milan, to Levati's designs, with unexpectedly fine results.