20TH CENURY

The introduction of the marble-topped console-table with plinth-supported Roman eagle is generally credited to the artist/architect William Kent (d. 1748), who was appointed Master Mason of King George II's Board of Works in 1726. In 1725, Kent featured Roman eagles in his illustrations for Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, recounting the history of Rome's foundation after the Trojan Wars. Kent used scenes from The Odyssey in his Roman-mosaiced ceiling for George I's apartment or gallery at Kensington Palace. This antique fashion was revived in the early 19th Century at houses such as Clandon Park, Surrey, where eagle-supported mahogany sideboard-tables were introduced to the dining-room created by George, 1st Earl of Onslow (d.1814)(see R. Joekes, 'Dinner at Clandon', Country Life, 23 June 1988, p.137 and Clandon Park Guidebook, 1995, p.28).