A Charles II scagliola table top, circa 1675, attributed to Baldassare Artima

The scagliola panel on the top of this table is almost certainly the work of Baldassare Artima, an Italian craftsman who emigrated to England in the late seventeenth century. Thought to have originated in Antiquity but revived in Italian workshops in the seventeenth century, scagliola is a decorative imitation marble technique which uses various composites to mimic the lustre of pietre dure. The method eventually made its way across from the Continent, with one of the first known English examples being a table from Warwick Castle, currently at held at the V&A (W.12:1, 2-1968), which the modern base and frieze of the present lot emulates.

Research by Christopher Rowell has connected the table from Warwick Castle to a distinctive group of scagliola furniture all attributed to Artima, occasionally thought to have been in collaboration with another Italian craftsman Diacinto Cawcy.¹ Other pieces in this group include stands and a looking-glass made for the 2nd Earl of Peterborough at Drayton house;² a further table in a private collection; a looking-glass sold by Sotheby’s in London on 6th July 2010, lot 1 (sold for 30,000 GBP); a cabinet on stand in a private collection;³ a second cabinet sold by Sotheby’s in London on 7th December 2010, lot 7 (sold for 85,350 GBP); and the fireplace in the Queen’s closet at Ham House.⁴

Some scholars argue that the table from Warwick Castle was acquired by Francis, 1st Earl of Warwick (1719-1773) as Dr Richard Pococke recorded in 1757 that 'there are some beautiful marble tables in the castle brought from Italy by the present Earl’.⁵ However, these tables did not appear in the 1815 description of the contents of the castle, so perhaps the scagliola piece was acquired in the 19th century as Henry 3rd Earl of Warwick (1816-1853) is known to have had a taste for the style and purchased a sixteenth century pietra dura Florentine table from the Grimani Palace in Venice. The 1671 date and attribution of the Warwick Castle table was made when it was sold by Christie’s on 21 March 1968, lot 116, and was accepted by the V&A upon its acquisition in the same year.

The stand of the present lot has been commissioned to match that at the V&A, featuring near identical scagliola patterning on both the frieze and the stretcher along with matching legs imitating Siena marble. The modern frame excellently imitates the birds, foliage and sixteen-point compass stars that decorate the original table from Warwick Castle. The two examples diverge with the design of their tabletops, as while the present lot’s top is contemporary to the Warwick Castle table, it displays different scagliola motifs, centrally a circular floral design, rather than the Persian vase containing a crown imperial which decorates the table at the V&A.

¹ C. Rowell, 'Scagliola by Baldassare Artima Romanus at Ham House and Elsewhere’, ed. C. Rowell, Ham House 400 Years of Collecting and Patronage, New Haven and London, 2013, pp. 206–207

² ibid. figs. 203-204

³ ibid. figs. 205-206

⁴ B. Cherry and N. Pevsner, London 2: South, 2002, p. 477

5 see the V&A's information on the Warwick table at <https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O7983/the-warwick-castle-table-table-baldassare-artima/> [accessed 25th April 2025]