A PAIR OF REGENCY CALAMANDER, EBONIZED AND PARCEL-GILT OCTAGONAL TABLES WITH ITALIAN SPECIMEN MARBLE TOPS
A PAIR OF REGENCY CALAMANDER, EBONIZED AND PARCEL-GILT OCTAGONAL TABLES WITH ITALIAN SPECIMEN MARBLE TOPS
A PAIR OF REGENCY CALAMANDER, EBONIZED AND PARCEL-GILT OCTAGONAL TABLES WITH ITALIAN SPECIMEN MARBLE TOPS
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A PAIR OF REGENCY CALAMANDER, EBONIZED AND PARCEL-GILT OCTAGONAL TABLES WITH ITALIAN SPECIMEN MARBLE TOPS
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A PAIR OF REGENCY CALAMANDER, EBONIZED AND PARCEL-GILT OCTAGONAL TABLES WITH ITALIAN SPECIMEN MARBLE TOPS

CIRCA 1810

Details
A PAIR OF REGENCY CALAMANDER, EBONIZED AND PARCEL-GILT OCTAGONAL TABLES WITH ITALIAN SPECIMEN MARBLE TOPS
CIRCA 1810
Each inlaid marble top centered by a flower surrounded by figured, volcanic and fossil marbles, one with an outer border of Siena and bardiglio marble, the other with Sicilian jasper and rosso antico marble, within a gilt-metal edge, the frieze mounted with beaded panels separated by palmettes, on leopard monopodia carved with stylized palmettes, joined by an undertier, each with an inventory number CA/F/153A and CAF/153/B, minor differences to the tops, dimensions and carving, with printed and inscribed Ann and Gordon Getty Collection inventory label
31 3/4 in. (80.6 cm.) high, 26 in. (66 cm.) wide, the larger
Provenance
Possibly commissioned by Charles Compton, 1st Marquess of Northampton (1760-1828), also 9th Earl of Northampton from 1796-1812, for Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire.
Thence by descent until sold anonymously; Christie's, London, 15 November 1990, lot 32.
Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above.
Literature
R. Edwards & P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1954, vol. 3. p. 317, fig. 37.
M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture, London, rev. ed., 1949, p. 110, fig. 101.
Special notice
Please note lots marked with a square will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) on the last day of the sale. Lots are not available for collection at Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services until after the third business day following the sale. All lots will be stored free of charge for 30 days from the auction date at Christie’s Rockefeller Center or Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Operation hours for collection from either location are from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday-Friday. After 30 days from the auction date property may be moved at Christie’s discretion. Please contact Post-Sale Services to confirm the location of your property prior to collection. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information.

Brought to you by

Elizabeth Seigel
Elizabeth Seigel Vice President, Specialist, Head of Private and Iconic Collections

Lot Essay

THE DESIGN
This pair of elegant and richly veneered tables closely resemble a design illustrated in Thomas Hope’s celebrated publication Household Furniture and Interior Decoration published in 1807 (plate 32) and reflects the early 19th-century interest in such antique revival styles. Hope’s designs were inspired by the classical ideal of Greek, Roman and other ancient ornament, adapted for the modern world.
During the late 18th century, British victories over the Dutch forces in Ceylon had helped popularize the fashion for Calamander wood, whose dark color was well suited for the contemporary 'Grecian' style of furniture. Early 19th century publications like in Thomas Sheraton’s in The Cabinet Dictionary, 1803, and Hope’s publication promoted the use of dark woods such as rosewood, kingwood, and calamander. Hope’s designs incorporated Greek ornament such as similarly distinctive palmette mounts, monopodia headed legs, and Grecian-scrolled claw-feet.
THE TOPS
The marble tops are constructed largely of volcanic stones. The use of this remarkable material became fashionable among Grand Tour collectors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries who held high regard for the marmisti (marble workers) skill for inlaying hardstones and range of specimens. The striking varieties used to create the top of these tables appear to be volcanic specimens from the south of Italy, and related mosaic tops can be found at Paxton House in Scotland. Patrick Home of Wedderburn (1728-1808), who had embarked on a Grand Tour to Italy in 1750-51 and again in 1771-79, returned to Scotland with vast collections of Italian pictures, vases, chimneypieces and marble tops, including several incorporating specimen lava. Sir William Hamilton (1730 - 1803) served as British Ambassador to the court in Naples and become interested in volcanoes upon the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1765. Hamilton is responsible for bringing numerous specimens to the British Museum between 1767 and 1770, and recruited the Sicilian Count Joseph Giveni of Catania to prepare studies of Mount Etna in 1781 who presented him with a tray of polished tablets of Sicilian volcanic rocks and lavas. Three more geometrically laid specimen lava slabs were bought by Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter (d. 1793) for Burghley House, Lincolnshire, during his Grand Tour 1763-4, and another was given by 9th Earl to the British Museum in 1764. One of this pair of tables is illustrated in M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture, rev. ed., London, 1965, fig. 119.
CASTLE ASHBY
Castle Ashby House is located in Northamptonshire, England, and was originally erected as a manor house for the Bishop of Coventry. In 1306, Bishop Walter Langton was given permission to castellate his manor in the village of Ashby. The present elevation of the Castle was started by Henry, 1st Baron Compton in 1574, in the classic E-shaped floorplan in honor of Queen Elizabeth who first visited in 1600. Though Capability Brown renovated the gardens in 1760, it was not until the 1860s that the interiors were revisited under the guidance of Sir Digby Wyatt. In 1867, E. W. Godwin undertook further work mostly to the peripheral buildings.

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