BY DEVAUX-FERRÉ, CIRCA 1867

Details

A Magnificent Napoleon III serpentine-stone and white marble table
By Devaux-Ferré, Circa 1867
The shaped top with a foliate border, above a double pearl frieze, on an ebonised spirally gadrooned stem, above a cylindrical baluster body, issuing four scroll and foliate feet; the underside with a printed label inscribed P.L De Tournus P.V., with the pencil inscription Mouterau and numbered DJ.9
27½ in. (70 cm.) high; 63 in. (160 cm.) wide; 43½ in. (110.5 cm.) deep

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Created by Devaux-Ferré, probably for a Great Exhibition, such as the one held in Paris in 1867 or London in 1872, this magnificent table was believed at the time to be the largest item sculpted out of solid Serpentine, a highly expensive and rare hardstone mainly of hydrated magnesium silicate, usually dark green, sometimes, such as in this case, the rarest mottled or spotted with white, burgundy-colour or purple clouds.

Devaux-Ferré specialised in rare and very sought-after stones, such as ophiolites, seprentine, porphyry and marmolite, also creating items out of the very hard roches éruptives or volcanic stones.

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