.jpg?mode=max)
.jpg?mode=max)
Lot Essay
This pair of boldly-carved side tables, which would have been called 'Roman tables' in early 18th Century pattern books, were designed in the antique manner as sideboard tables for a stone banqueting hall or saloon.
The original design of the early Georgian eagle-supported pier table is associated with Lord Burlington's proteg, the artist/architect William Kent (d. 1748), who was granted the title 'Master Carpenter' of King George I's Board of Works. In 1725, Kent featured Roman eagles in his illustrations for Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's epic
The Odyssey, recounting the history of Rome's foundation after the Trojan wars. Kent used scenes from The Odyssey in his ceiling of Roman mosaic to decorate King George I's apartment or gallery at Kensington Palace.
The original design of the early Georgian eagle-supported pier table is associated with Lord Burlington's proteg, the artist/architect William Kent (d. 1748), who was granted the title 'Master Carpenter' of King George I's Board of Works. In 1725, Kent featured Roman eagles in his illustrations for Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's epic
The Odyssey, recounting the history of Rome's foundation after the Trojan wars. Kent used scenes from The Odyssey in his ceiling of Roman mosaic to decorate King George I's apartment or gallery at Kensington Palace.