Italian-style alabaster pedestal table with marble inlaid top, 16th century

Italian pedestal table in alabaster, with circular top inlaid with several varieties of marble with a radiating pattern in gray, ochre and white tones. This top is inspired by a type of 16th-century decoration, in which the design of the trays excluded flowers and animals, and consisted mainly of geometric motifs. Here, it is highlighted by a gray marble border and a yellow marble band. The center of the tray is adorned with a rosette and a radiating motif. In the following century, these geometric decorations would give way to figurative motifs of birds and plants. This charming pedestal table stands on a slender foot with rings and fluting.

A taste for marble and hardstone marquetry in Italy

The taste for hardstone mosaics and marble marquetry was very strong in Italy during the Renaissance. Imposing tables and pedestal tables in this technique could be found in the collections of great families such as the Medici or the Farnese. These sumptuous decorations featured a multitude of stones and marbles such as serpentine, Aswan granite and porphyry. The birth of the genre was due to the admiration of 16th-century men for the ancient marble pavements and facings being discovered in Rome. The hardstone mosaics and marble tables created in Florence were exceptional pieces which, from the end of the 16th century onwards, fascinated the whole of Europe. They were widely imitated both in Italy and in other European countries.

Circa: 1830

Dim: W: 46cm, D: 46cm, H: 82cm.
Dim: W: 18,1in, D: 18,1in, H: 32,3in.

Condition report: In good condition, with a few chips to the marble.