A Fine Restoration Gilt-Bronze and Patinated Bronze Circular Centre Table with Inlaid Specimen Marble Top, Circa 1820

With a circular specimen inlaid white marble top, above a frieze cast with a band of vine leaves and grapes; the baluster stem, with a band of acanthus, supported by three griffin feet, cast with acanthus leaves.

Items decorated with elaborate Italian marble inlays were highly prized as souvenirs of the Grand Tour – the trip undertaken by young gentlemen to complete their education in the arts.  The concept of the Grand Tour developed in the late 16th and early 17th century but was most popular during the 18th, when visitors to Italy went to admire ancient Roman sculpture and architecture, and Renaissance and Baroque painting.  Huge numbers of the European aristocracy undertook this journey

Aided by advances in stone cutting and polishing technology, specimen marble tabletops, with intricately inlaid marble samples, were brought home by these early tourists.  They were created almost exclusively for this tourist market and their bases would then be designed by the cabinet makers, on their return.

Literature:

Kjellberg, Pierre, Le Meuble Francais et Europeen du Moyen-Age à nos Jours, Les Ed. De L’Amateur, Paris, 1991, p. 447, No 517 illustrates a similar gueridon with an inlaid marble top. Another very similar table but with a plain white marble top was sold by Sotheby’s 7th December 2000 Lot 148.

Dimensions

Price on application

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance