A fine Napoleon III serpentine-stone and white marble centre-table
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A fine Napoleon III serpentine-stone and white marble centre-table

BY DEVAUX-FERRÉ, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A fine Napoleon III serpentine-stone and white marble centre-table
By Devaux-Ferré, Third quarter 19th Century
The shaped top with acanthus-carved border, above a plain frieze with beaded edge, the spirally-gadrooned and turned cylindrical support issuing scrolled and foliate-carved legs, the underside with paper label printed P. L. De Tournus P. V., inscribed in pencil Mouterau and numbered DJ.9
27½ in. (70 cm.) high; 63 in. (160 cm.) wide; 43½ in. (110.5 cm.) deep
Provenance
Anonymous sale in these rooms, 1 October 2003, lot 131 (£35,850).
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Created by Devaux-Ferré, probably for a Great Exhibition, such as the one held in Paris in 1867 or London in 1872, this magnificent table was believed at the time to be the largest item sculpted out of solid Serpentine, a highly expensive and rare hardstone mainly of hydrated magnesium silicate, usually dark green, sometimes, such as in this case, the rarest mottled or spotted with white, burgundy-colour or purple clouds.

Devaux-Ferré specialised in rare and very sought-after stones, such as ophiolites, serpentine, porphyry and marmolite, also creating items out of the very hard roches éruptives or volcanic stones.

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