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Lot Essay
THE TABLE TOP
The vivid scenes on this superb scagliola table, with their exacting attention to detail, appear at first glance to be watercolors. But this veritable tour de force is a rare survivor of the art of scagliola, a technique invented to mimic pietra dura, made by inlaying various marble and precious hardstones into a marble ground. Though it was less expensive, scagliola was a laborious, meticulous process requiring equally refined technical skills. Scagliola is derived from a mixture of crushed plaster, usually gypsum or selenite, combined with animal glues such as isinglass (gelatine) or Flanders glue along with colored pigments. This mixture was then applied to a prepared surface, smoothed, and polished with a pumice stone before a final layer of felt-applied oil.
As with their pietra dura counterparts, table tops in scagliola were eagerly pursued by aristocratic Grand Tourists, who purchased them as souvenirs of their time abroad. These gentlemen spent months or even years on the Continent, gaining knowledge through exposure to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, while also acquiring social polish and sophistication.
One such Grand Tourist was the noted connoisseur, Horace Walpole (1717-1797), whose correspondence with the British Resident in Florence, Lord Horace Mann, to assist him with obtaining more scagliola table tops provides a vivid account. Interestingly, some of the best craftsmen were Catholic priests and on 30 October 1742, Mann writes, "Your scagliola table is finished, though I have not got it home. The nasty priest will have 25 zecchins [£12 10s] besides many thanks, for the preference given to me, for some simple English have been tampering with him and offered 30 to get it, though it is by no means such a fine performance. The priest wishes I would not take it, as he would make a present of it to the Pope. He leaves Florence for good."
Though the process was laborious, many Grand Tourists nevertheless returned with scagliola tops that relate to the offered lot. The top's design, with the central image of Saint Peter's surrounded by monuments of Ancient Rome, neatly juxtaposes the superficial sightseeing record with the erudition derived from academic study. Several equally pictorial variations of this design, some of which also incorporate Italian landmarks in the borders, have been documented in scagliola as well as micromosaic. One of the most noted was executed by the Florentine micromosaicist Michelangelo Barberi (1787-1867), who displayed a pair of tables in the 1851 Great Exhibition. Another micromosaic top by Barbieri, sold anonymously at Drewatte Neate, Berkshire, 21 January 2004, lot 76. A closely related scagliola table top was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 18 March 2004.
THE BASE
Designed to accommodate the top after its arrival in England, the base pattern relates to a drawing by Thomas King in his Cabinet Makers Sketch Book of 1835 (E. White, Pictorial Dictionary of British 19th Century Design, Woodbridge, 1977, p. 494). This was a popular form, as several related versions exist by undocumented makers. They include a specimen top rosewood table sold anonymously; Sotheby's, New York, 30 April 2003, lot 702 and another, reputedly from the Earls of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers; Sotheby's, London, 21 November 1992, lot 148.
Though individual design elements on the base appear in several documented works by the London and Lancaster cabinet-maker Gillows, there are also some distinct features which may also indicate an attribution to the Scottish cabinetmaker, William Trotter. Trotter's pair of rosewood flower stands made around 1815 for the Marquess of Tweeddale at Yester House share the same bold, sculptural uprights with crisp leaf scrolls (F. Bamford, "A Dictionary of Edinburgh Wrights and Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Furniture History, 1983, pl.73). In 1814, Trotter also provided stands for several specimen tops to Patrick Home, Laird of Wedderburn and eight-year veteran of the Grand Tour, for Paxton House, including a related example of circular form (Ibid fig. 56.).
The vivid scenes on this superb scagliola table, with their exacting attention to detail, appear at first glance to be watercolors. But this veritable tour de force is a rare survivor of the art of scagliola, a technique invented to mimic pietra dura, made by inlaying various marble and precious hardstones into a marble ground. Though it was less expensive, scagliola was a laborious, meticulous process requiring equally refined technical skills. Scagliola is derived from a mixture of crushed plaster, usually gypsum or selenite, combined with animal glues such as isinglass (gelatine) or Flanders glue along with colored pigments. This mixture was then applied to a prepared surface, smoothed, and polished with a pumice stone before a final layer of felt-applied oil.
As with their pietra dura counterparts, table tops in scagliola were eagerly pursued by aristocratic Grand Tourists, who purchased them as souvenirs of their time abroad. These gentlemen spent months or even years on the Continent, gaining knowledge through exposure to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, while also acquiring social polish and sophistication.
One such Grand Tourist was the noted connoisseur, Horace Walpole (1717-1797), whose correspondence with the British Resident in Florence, Lord Horace Mann, to assist him with obtaining more scagliola table tops provides a vivid account. Interestingly, some of the best craftsmen were Catholic priests and on 30 October 1742, Mann writes, "Your scagliola table is finished, though I have not got it home. The nasty priest will have 25 zecchins [£12 10s] besides many thanks, for the preference given to me, for some simple English have been tampering with him and offered 30 to get it, though it is by no means such a fine performance. The priest wishes I would not take it, as he would make a present of it to the Pope. He leaves Florence for good."
Though the process was laborious, many Grand Tourists nevertheless returned with scagliola tops that relate to the offered lot. The top's design, with the central image of Saint Peter's surrounded by monuments of Ancient Rome, neatly juxtaposes the superficial sightseeing record with the erudition derived from academic study. Several equally pictorial variations of this design, some of which also incorporate Italian landmarks in the borders, have been documented in scagliola as well as micromosaic. One of the most noted was executed by the Florentine micromosaicist Michelangelo Barberi (1787-1867), who displayed a pair of tables in the 1851 Great Exhibition. Another micromosaic top by Barbieri, sold anonymously at Drewatte Neate, Berkshire, 21 January 2004, lot 76. A closely related scagliola table top was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 18 March 2004.
THE BASE
Designed to accommodate the top after its arrival in England, the base pattern relates to a drawing by Thomas King in his Cabinet Makers Sketch Book of 1835 (E. White, Pictorial Dictionary of British 19th Century Design, Woodbridge, 1977, p. 494). This was a popular form, as several related versions exist by undocumented makers. They include a specimen top rosewood table sold anonymously; Sotheby's, New York, 30 April 2003, lot 702 and another, reputedly from the Earls of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers; Sotheby's, London, 21 November 1992, lot 148.
Though individual design elements on the base appear in several documented works by the London and Lancaster cabinet-maker Gillows, there are also some distinct features which may also indicate an attribution to the Scottish cabinetmaker, William Trotter. Trotter's pair of rosewood flower stands made around 1815 for the Marquess of Tweeddale at Yester House share the same bold, sculptural uprights with crisp leaf scrolls (F. Bamford, "A Dictionary of Edinburgh Wrights and Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Furniture History, 1983, pl.73). In 1814, Trotter also provided stands for several specimen tops to Patrick Home, Laird of Wedderburn and eight-year veteran of the Grand Tour, for Paxton House, including a related example of circular form (Ibid fig. 56.).