LATE 17TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF ANDREAS BRUSTOLON, ORIGINALLY WITH A MARBLE TOP

Details

A VENETIAN EBONISED, WALNUT AND BURR-WALNUT SIDE TABLE
LATE 17TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF ANDREAS BRUSTOLON, ORIGINALLY WITH A MARBLE TOP
Now with rectangular walnut-veneered crossbanded top surrounded by acanthus leaf moulding supported by four crouching male figures, each with one arm bent and one outstretched, on carved foliate feet joined to a central support by X-shaped carved foliate stretcher and with central scrolling acanthus stem, on later angled block feet, the wooden top and angled block feet presumably added in the early 19th Century when the table was restored and the frieze reframed
35½ in. (91 cm.) high; 64 in. (163 cm.) wide; 37 in. (94 cm.) deep

Provenance

Almost certainly purchased by Philip John Miles for Leigh Court, Bristol and by descent through his granddaughter Florence, wife of the Hon. Rev. Francis Edmund Byng, later 5th Earl of Strafford and by descent.

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

The treatment and scale of the bold carving of this side table recalls the work of the celebrated Venetian carver and intagliatore Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732), who is known for his exuberant carved furniture incorporating figures. A group of three sculpted tables formerly in the Demidoff collection at Villa Pratolino, near Fiesole, Florence displays certain related characteristics, although these were executed in boxwood as opposed to walnut. Various designs for tables are known by Brustolon, and in the Villa Pratolino sale catalogue, the group of side tables was attributed him. However, Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios, who reveals a fourth table as part of the group, re-attributes them to a thus far unknown artist working in the circle of Brustolon (Arte Illustrata, 1969, nn. 17-18, p. 118, and Il Tempio del Gusto, Milan, 1986, Vol. 1, p. 323).

A related table design, with sinuous ribbon-scrolls of Roman acanthus and enslaved caryatic pilasters, featured in Filippo Passarinis Nuove Inventioni dornamenti darchittectura Rome, 1698 (ibid., fig 126).

More from TWO LATE REGENCY COLLECTORS PHILIP JOHN MILES & GEORGE BYNG

View All