A pair of Italian faux porphyry and carved giltwood console tables, Roman late 18th century

in the Antique manner, each with a rectangular liver, grey and white veneered marble top above a frieze carved with a band of bucrania suspending ribbon-tied husk swags, with a sunflower at each corner, on tapering fluted leaf carved legs

Sold Sotheby's London 6th December 2006, lot 96.

In overall good conserved condition. Colour less orange overall and more attractive than in the catalogue photograph. The marble is more peach and white in colour and there is a 4cm x 2cm section of marble missing from the right rear corner of one and 3cm x 1cm section off the left rear corner corner of the other and other minor scattered chips along the edges which are not too noticeable. The decoration has been refreshed. Reblocked. There are some vertical cracks in the front and rear right legs which can easily be filled or left. There is some wear to the decoration on the feet as is normal. Some of the very small roundels on the frieze are possibly later replacements or been restored as the gilding is a slightly different colour to the swags and one small roundel is missing on this table but can easily be replaced. On the other table there is a vertical crack in the front left and right legs.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Enrico Colle, Il Mobile neoclassico in Italia, arredi e decorazioni d’interni dal 1775 al 1800, Milan, 2005, p. 143.
Alvar González-Palacios, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, I Mobili Italiani, Milan, 1996, p. 198, fig. 67.
Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection, Micromosaics, London, 2000, p. 218-219.
G. Morazzoni, Il Mobile Neoclassico Italiano, Milan, 1955, Tav VIII.

This pair of tables with marble tops and frieze applied with bucrania suspending swags in the manner of Piranesi is typical of Roman neo-classical tables in the last quarter of the 18^th century. In the Quirinale there is a console table with bucraniae suspending swags conceived in a manner similar to those on this table, illustrated by González-Palacios, op. cit., p.198, fig. 67, reproduced here in fig. 1.

Colle, op.cit., p.143, illustrates a Roman table in Villa Borghese, Rome, decorated on the frieze with a reserve with Pliny’s Doves. Furthermore, this pair of tables is very much in the style of those in Villa Borghese and Morrazoni, op. cit., Tav VIII, illustrates two tables conceived in a similar vein in Galleria Borghese, which were made for Pope Pius VI. They have foliate swags on the frieze and one has flowerheads at the angles and fluted tapering legs, the other, bucrania at each end of the frieze.

The ground painted in imitation porphyry reflects the taste for porphyry in the 17th and 18th centuries with the renewed interest in the Antique, as a result of archeological discoveries in the second half of the 18th century.  It was the Romans who originally quarried and exported it from Egypt in large quantities to make columns, urns and basins and this fashion was revived during the Renaissance and continued right through the centuries.

The plaque with the Doves of Pliny is inspired by the ancient floor mosaic found in Hadrian’s Villa in 1737 which was replicated in mosaics and on furniture. The composition is usually referred to as The Doves of Pliny or The Capitoline Doves. Gaius Plinius Secundus(Pliny the Elder) (A.D. 23-79)wrote a book called Natural History and traditionally below the plaque was an inscription in which he describes the ancient mosaic`Among these mosaics is a marvellous dove drining and casting the shadow of its head on the water. Other doves are pluming their feathers in the sun on the lip of the goblet’. He was killed when Vesuvius erupted burying Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79.
A pair of Roman tables, late 18^th century with a central reserve with Pliny’s Doves, was sold as lot 172, in these Rooms, 12^th December 2001.