ROME, LATE 18TH CENTURY, INCORPORATING EARLIER CENTRAL PANEL, PROBABLY 15TH / 16TH CENTURY

This magnificent veneered Roman marble top luxuriously veneered with lapis lazuli within its 18th century rich Roman ormolu border is typical of the Grand Tour fashion for embellishing ‘antique’ objects and works of art. The marble would have originally adorned the top of a console table, and incorporates an older multi-coloured panel of semiprecious stone composed of intricately cut separate pieces arranged in a geometric pattern within a mosaica border. This particular style of stone inlay, known as maniera cosmatesca, emerged during the XII and XIII centuries with the Roman marmorari, medieval marble workers. Reutilising ancient polychrome marbles and hardstones, these dynasties of craftsmen – amongst whom the Cosmati and Vassalletto families stand out for their skill and popularity – gave origin to a new style of inlaid decoration inspired by Islamic and Byzantine decorative schemes. The technique, which is characterised by a recurring and fixed repertoire of patterns and layouts, was predominantly used in sacred architecture, and remained highly popular in Rome and its surrounds as well as in the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily for over two centuries. As with many other marble and hardstone table tops, it is probable that the older central element of the present example was removed from its original setting, in a church, chapel or funerary monument, and fitted within its current onyx and lapis lazuli border to satisfy the growing antiquarian taste of the 18th century.