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Lot Essay
Lots 7-9 present masterworks in hardstone, micro-mosaic and gilt-bronze acquired by a European princely family in the early 19th century. These works exemplify ‘grand tour’ collecting and bring to life the intellectual and artistic temperature of the period, when members of European royal families would commission works inspired by ancient Rome
and Greece from the master craftsmen and designers of Italy. The depiction of canonical scenes from Greek mythology on micro-mosaic and the display of hundreds of specimens of rare marbles mined from every corner of the ancient world speak not only to the scholarly aspirations of Europe’s ruling elite but also to the enduring power of the political legacy of ancient Rome.
These lots indicate the role of the decorative arts in diplomacy and the political and visual kinship between the royal families of Europe. The two extraordinary specimen marble table tops on both of these bases (lots 8 and 9) indicate the technical and artistic skill of the lapidaries of Rome as well as the powerful Italiensucht, the yearning for Italy, that so permeated post-Enlightenment central Europe.
With some 168 specimens of rare marbles, this impressive table represents a bold statement of Neoclassical taste and reflects the scholarly ambitions of the Grand Tourist collector. Almost certainly acquired in Rome, the richly coloured top is inlaid with an extensive array of ancient and ornamental stones, transforming the table into both a decorative object and a lapidary catalogue. These specimens surround a highly sought after 18th century Florentine pietra dura plaque, evoking the rich heritage of lapidary work in Italy throughout the early modern period. Such works, highly prized by connoisseurs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, evoked the celebrated collections of antiquities and ancient marbles encountered in Rome and embodied the intellectual pursuits associated with the Grand Tour.
The magnificent table top was clearly executed in a Roman workshop catering to Europe's elite. A comparable tabletop sold Humphrey Whitbread Collection; Christie's London, 15 April 2001, lot 412, most probably from the same workshop was acquired in Rome by the distinguished patron and collector Edward, Viscount Lascelles (d. 1814), for Harewood House, Hanover Square, London, purchased in 1795 (see M. Mauchline, Harewood House, Ashbourne, 1992, pp. 113–114, 119).
The sumptuous Empire base, distinguished by its finely cast and chased gilt-bronze mounts, bears the hallmarks of German manufacture and attests to the sophistication of the regional centres producing luxury furnishings for the princely and royal courts of Germany during the early 19th century. Its design recalls the work of the celebrated Stuttgart cabinet-maker Johannes Klinckerfuss (1770–1831), one of the leading exponents of the German Empire style. Having served the courts of Bayreuth and Württemberg, including the furnishing of Schloss Fantaisie and later as cabinet-ébéniste to Duke Frederick II of Württemberg, Klinckerfuss established an independent workshop in Stuttgart in 1812. There he produced a series of highly accomplished Empire furnishings, many examples of which remain in the royal residences of Weil, Ludwigsburg and Rosenstein. The present base, with its refined architectural form and richly modelled mounts, reflects the same tradition of exceptional craftsmanship that distinguished the finest German decorative arts of the period.
and Greece from the master craftsmen and designers of Italy. The depiction of canonical scenes from Greek mythology on micro-mosaic and the display of hundreds of specimens of rare marbles mined from every corner of the ancient world speak not only to the scholarly aspirations of Europe’s ruling elite but also to the enduring power of the political legacy of ancient Rome.
These lots indicate the role of the decorative arts in diplomacy and the political and visual kinship between the royal families of Europe. The two extraordinary specimen marble table tops on both of these bases (lots 8 and 9) indicate the technical and artistic skill of the lapidaries of Rome as well as the powerful Italiensucht, the yearning for Italy, that so permeated post-Enlightenment central Europe.
With some 168 specimens of rare marbles, this impressive table represents a bold statement of Neoclassical taste and reflects the scholarly ambitions of the Grand Tourist collector. Almost certainly acquired in Rome, the richly coloured top is inlaid with an extensive array of ancient and ornamental stones, transforming the table into both a decorative object and a lapidary catalogue. These specimens surround a highly sought after 18th century Florentine pietra dura plaque, evoking the rich heritage of lapidary work in Italy throughout the early modern period. Such works, highly prized by connoisseurs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, evoked the celebrated collections of antiquities and ancient marbles encountered in Rome and embodied the intellectual pursuits associated with the Grand Tour.
The magnificent table top was clearly executed in a Roman workshop catering to Europe's elite. A comparable tabletop sold Humphrey Whitbread Collection; Christie's London, 15 April 2001, lot 412, most probably from the same workshop was acquired in Rome by the distinguished patron and collector Edward, Viscount Lascelles (d. 1814), for Harewood House, Hanover Square, London, purchased in 1795 (see M. Mauchline, Harewood House, Ashbourne, 1992, pp. 113–114, 119).
The sumptuous Empire base, distinguished by its finely cast and chased gilt-bronze mounts, bears the hallmarks of German manufacture and attests to the sophistication of the regional centres producing luxury furnishings for the princely and royal courts of Germany during the early 19th century. Its design recalls the work of the celebrated Stuttgart cabinet-maker Johannes Klinckerfuss (1770–1831), one of the leading exponents of the German Empire style. Having served the courts of Bayreuth and Württemberg, including the furnishing of Schloss Fantaisie and later as cabinet-ébéniste to Duke Frederick II of Württemberg, Klinckerfuss established an independent workshop in Stuttgart in 1812. There he produced a series of highly accomplished Empire furnishings, many examples of which remain in the royal residences of Weil, Ludwigsburg and Rosenstein. The present base, with its refined architectural form and richly modelled mounts, reflects the same tradition of exceptional craftsmanship that distinguished the finest German decorative arts of the period.