POSSIBLY LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY AND REPOLISHED

This pair of consoles, carved from a solid fossil-shell marble is of a type associated with the late Renaissance. The particular block-based baluster may be seen on many surviving 16th & 17th century staircases throughout Italy, especially in Northern Tuscany and Liguria. There has been a long tradition in Italy for re-using marbles throughout the centuries, therefore it is interesting to note that these tables differ slightly in size and that the undersides have signs of previous supports that suggest an alternative, and perhaps earlier, form. A closely related centre table was illustrated on the cover of World of Interiors, May 1983, & pp. 82-3. Another was sold by Christopher Gibbs Esq. at Christies, sale of The Manor House at Clifton Hampden, 25 October 2000, lot 138. (See also Bonhams London, The Gentlemans Library, 24 January 2006, lot 348, for James Gibbs's 1728 designs for marble tables for gardens or summer-houses.)