Lot Essay
This is an exceptional example of marble table tops or 'slabs' that were acquired by English patrons on their Grand Tour in Italy and subsequently mounted on English bases. This table is fascinating in that the drawer is fitted with a diagram identifying the marble insets. Another example of a documented table top is discussed in C. Gilbert, 'A Specimen Marble Top', Connoisseur, October 1973, pp. 78-81.
The table's foliated columnar shaft, 'altar' or 'candelabrum' plinth and bacchic lion feet emerging from acanthus volutes relate it to a table pattern in Peter and Michaelangelo Nicholson's, The Practical Cabinet-Maker of 1827, fig. 16. The fashion for specimen marble inlays is referred to by the Nicholsons stating 'the tops of tables are often beautifully ornamented with Mosaic work'. While the firm responsible for executing the base cannot be confirmed, the richly- carved stem relates this table to the documented work of Morel and Hughes for the Dukes of Northumberland, at Northumberland House, which also corresponds to Nicholson designs (for example, a pair of firescreens sold anonymously in Christie's New York, 2 February 1991, lot 177). Nicholas Morel was part of a group of craftsmen who worked with Henry Holland and Dominique Daguerre for the Prince of Wales at Carlton House, and also for Samuel Whitbread at Southill. He went into partnership with Robert Hughes from 1805 until 1828, and with George Seddon from 1827, where they provided furniture for Windsor Castle (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 623-624). A set of four tables supplied for Carlton House in 1808, thought to have been made by Tatham and Bailey, is listed with 'new inlaid tops put' put on by Morel and Seddon in the Windsor Castle inventories. They appear in Wild's view of the Crimson Drawing-Room at Carlton House and are illustrated in G. de Bellaigue and P. Kirkham, 'George IV and the Furnishing of Windsor Castle', Furniture History Society Journal, 1972, p. 31, pl.18C.
The 'old French' boulle inlay is designed in the antique manner introduced by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville (d. 1840) in his interior decoration for King George IV (1820-30). A table with very similar brass-banded frieze was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 25 February 1982, lot 62, while, a pair of similar overall design was also sold in these Rooms, 18 November 1993, lot 170.
The table's foliated columnar shaft, 'altar' or 'candelabrum' plinth and bacchic lion feet emerging from acanthus volutes relate it to a table pattern in Peter and Michaelangelo Nicholson's, The Practical Cabinet-Maker of 1827, fig. 16. The fashion for specimen marble inlays is referred to by the Nicholsons stating 'the tops of tables are often beautifully ornamented with Mosaic work'. While the firm responsible for executing the base cannot be confirmed, the richly- carved stem relates this table to the documented work of Morel and Hughes for the Dukes of Northumberland, at Northumberland House, which also corresponds to Nicholson designs (for example, a pair of firescreens sold anonymously in Christie's New York, 2 February 1991, lot 177). Nicholas Morel was part of a group of craftsmen who worked with Henry Holland and Dominique Daguerre for the Prince of Wales at Carlton House, and also for Samuel Whitbread at Southill. He went into partnership with Robert Hughes from 1805 until 1828, and with George Seddon from 1827, where they provided furniture for Windsor Castle (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 623-624). A set of four tables supplied for Carlton House in 1808, thought to have been made by Tatham and Bailey, is listed with 'new inlaid tops put' put on by Morel and Seddon in the Windsor Castle inventories. They appear in Wild's view of the Crimson Drawing-Room at Carlton House and are illustrated in G. de Bellaigue and P. Kirkham, 'George IV and the Furnishing of Windsor Castle', Furniture History Society Journal, 1972, p. 31, pl.18C.
The 'old French' boulle inlay is designed in the antique manner introduced by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville (d. 1840) in his interior decoration for King George IV (1820-30). A table with very similar brass-banded frieze was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 25 February 1982, lot 62, while, a pair of similar overall design was also sold in these Rooms, 18 November 1993, lot 170.