- 116
North Italian, probably Venetian, early 17th century
Description
- a walnut table top
- profusely inlaid with engraved mother-of-pearl and ivory with interlacing scrolls, portrait medallions and fantastical creatures, the centre with episcopal arms
Catalogue Note
The table top belongs to the same school as a group of marquetry objects attributed to a Venetian workshop by Alvar Gonzàles-Palacios, clearly influenced by Ottoman designs. A close comparison can be made between the present example and a table top in Gonzàles-Palacios' Il Tempo del Gusto, (no.695, illus.696) with its use of mother-of-pearl portrait medallions, and in the urns which hold the stylized scrolling foliage. The table top would originally have been supported by a trestle, as in the Gonzàles-Palacios example, and would have been easily transportable.
Previous to Gonzàles-Palacios' Venetian attribution these marquetry table-tops were traditionally called south German, and were believed to have been created by gunstock makers. However, the use of walnut would point to an Italian source.
RELATED LITERATURE
Gonzàles-Palacios, vol.II, pp.307-9