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Lot Essay
The antique medallions and continuous garlands which embellish the fronts of these magnificent tables typify the characteristically Roman style promoted by the architect and designer Giovanni Battista Piranesi (d.1778). The central relief tablets, depicting a ram and a bull respectively atop Bacchanal staffs, recall the marble reliefs that he used in the centre of his executed chimney pieces and many variations can be found in his designs for tables and chimney pieces in Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini of 1769.
The present tables relate closely to a pair in the Quirinale, Rome, which were supplied by Antonio Landucci in 1773 to Prince Don Marcantonio Borghese (d. 1800) for the Palazzo Borghese (illustrated in A. González-Palacios, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, I mobili italiani, Milan, 1996, pp. 184-185, cat. 59). A further related table was sold from the estate of James R Herbert Boone, Sotheby's, London, 17 September 1988, lot 863A; and was sold again, Sotheby's, New York, 5 October 1991, lot 318. A further related pair of giltwood consoles tables, attributed to Antonio Landucci, with mosaic tops from Palazzo Borghese, was sold from the Bergsten Collection, Christie's London, 23 June 1999, lot 100. These mentioned tables incorporate the same original combination of a neo-classical frieze in combination with a carved stretcher carved in early 18th Century style.
The present tables relate closely to a pair in the Quirinale, Rome, which were supplied by Antonio Landucci in 1773 to Prince Don Marcantonio Borghese (d. 1800) for the Palazzo Borghese (illustrated in A. González-Palacios, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, I mobili italiani, Milan, 1996, pp. 184-185, cat. 59). A further related table was sold from the estate of James R Herbert Boone, Sotheby's, London, 17 September 1988, lot 863A; and was sold again, Sotheby's, New York, 5 October 1991, lot 318. A further related pair of giltwood consoles tables, attributed to Antonio Landucci, with mosaic tops from Palazzo Borghese, was sold from the Bergsten Collection, Christie's London, 23 June 1999, lot 100. These mentioned tables incorporate the same original combination of a neo-classical frieze in combination with a carved stretcher carved in early 18th Century style.