Pietre Dure Console Tables

Among the most beautiful examples of hardstone artistry that have ever entered our collection, these important Grand Ducal pietre dure console tables are in a class all their own. Their powerful architectural elegance, impressive size and rarity make them two of the finest hardstone masterpieces ever created and quite possibly the greatest pair of pietre dure tables in existence. With their naturalistically rendered flowers and birds, these tabletop panels showcase the particularly fine quality craftsmanship of the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence during the first quarter of the 17th century. Grand Duke Ferdinando I de Medici, one of the most important personages in the annals of art history, established the Grand Ducal Workshop in 1588. The workshop specialized in the art of pietre dure developed from the ancient art of opus sectile, giving rise to the most luxurious and detailed examples of hardstone artistry ever produced. Its patrons were the Popes and Royals of Europe, and the quality of the objects produced in the workshop is without equal. Typically, because of the high level of workmanship the art form requires, pietre dure plaques were crafted in small sizes. The great majority of known examples of pietre dure are a fraction of the size of our grand tables. The combination of pietre dure and extensive use of other rare decorative hardstones such as lapis lazuli and pietra paesina or “ruin marble” meant that these tabletops were surely produced for a wealthy collector. The tables are further distinguished by their superbly carved bases by Andrea Brustolon, known as the “Michelangelo of wood.” Brustolon was a Venetian wood sculptor known for his exuberant and intricate Baroque furniture. His high Baroque style was influenced by his years studying in Rome, where he was exposed to the sculpture of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Crafted in the early 18th century, these bases display Brusolon’s unmatched talent for both figural and foliate work, combining cupids, masks and oversized scrolling vines for a grand, ornate effect. Similar furnishings by Brustolon are held in museums worldwide, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Museum of Scotland and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the Ca' Rezzonico Museum in Venice features an entire room dedicated to the sculptor. For approximately 150 years, these tables were part of the famed Stoneleigh Abbey collection owned by the Lord Leigh family. This renowned English country estate inspired Jane Austen to write Mansfield Park. Lord Leigh eventually sold the tables at Christie’s London in 1962, and the pair have stayed in the collection of the same Florentine family who purchased them from Christie's until we recently acquired them. Our tables are prominently pictured in the important Saul Levy book Il Mobile Veneziano del Settencento. The pietre dure plaques date circa 1625-1650. The decorative tops likely would have originally been sold with a pair of plain stone columns to display them, and Lord Leigh would have commissioned the custom bases from Brustolon circa 1714 when he added the impressive four-story fifteen-bay Baroque West Wing to Stoneleigh Abbey. A similar single Grand Ducal tabletop is in the United Kingdom’s National Trust Collection, and a smaller tabletop resides in Buckingham Palace. The flower and bird panels in our examples relate to the famous Badminton Cabinet...

The exquisite art of pietre dure is at its absolute finest in this spectacular pair of Russian ormolu and malachite plinths. True works of art of the Restauration period, these plinths each feature a matching pietre dure mosaic crafted of the finest stones, all chosen to create a sense of depth and dimensionality in the final work. Depicting an onyx vase with tulips, roses, daffodils, magnolia and other flowers, these pietre dure panels are among the finest examples of this ancient art we have seen. The pietre dure is complemented by malachite panels of the highest quality, exhibiting exceptional depth through its extraordinary cellular structure. Malachite is one of Russia’s most precious stones, and its presence in these plinths indicates commission and ownership by an individual of considerable status. Mounted in an excellent stepped ormolu base, these plinths originally served as bases for vases or candelabra. The overall execution and appearance of these plinths is very characteristic of the taste associated with the immensely wealthy collector Nicolas Demidoff. As early as 1806, Demidoff had commissioned the Parisian goldsmith Henri August to supply a guéridon; in 1819, he ordered famed French bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire to supply mounts for a massive malachite vase (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as a console table with legs in the form of Nike. Other commissions included a table given as a gift to Grand Duke Leopoldo II of Florence, now in the Pitti Palace. Demidoff eventually settled in Florence in 1822 and became Russian minister to the Tuscan Court. Elevated to the rank of Count of San Donato by the Grand Duke, he built a magnificent villa at San Donato on the site of lands formerly owned by the Medici. The villa was later inherited by Anatole, his son, Prince of San Donato, and there are records which confirm transactions he had with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. The 19th century proved to be the golden age of Russian malachite. The stone became a sign of prestige and a token of wealth, so much so that Russian papers of the time wrote: "To afford having a big piece wrought in malachite is synonymous to owning diamonds." Year after year the Russian (Romanov) treasury paid increasingly unreasonable prices to hoard the best malachite, much of which went into Romanov palaces and extravagant objets d'art. The Hermitage Museum possesses a collection of over two hundred examples of this “palatial” malachite...

The time-honored decorative techniques of pietre dure and micromosaic are combined in this rare and exceptionally-crafted Grand Tour casket. Serving as a m...

Crafted by Jean-Pierre-Alexandre Tahan, the esteemed cabinetmaker to Napoléon III, this jewelry box is a remarkable example of 19th-century European artistry. The box, shaped in doré...

This English mahogany console table is a rare period example of the elaborate Chinese Chippendale style. A study in symmetry and balance, this table combines the restrained elegance of the Georgian period with the intricate artistry of the Orientalist aesthetic. Elaborate fretwork on the frieze and pierced supports are beautifully matched by fluted legs. As a whole, it represents a stunning marriage of Chippendale craftsmanship and Eastern design. Small, decorative tables such as this represented the great influence that China had in European decorative and Fine art beginning in the 1600s. Since the Restoration of the monarchy, there had been a growing interest in Chinese-style design forms in England. Called "chinoiserie" in French, this style had become extremely popular by the middle of the 18th century, and designers such as Thomas Chippendale eagerly adopted the elaborate Eastern designs. By the mid-1750s, the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens were sporting "Chinese Pavilions...

Perfectly proportioned and beautifully crafted, this rare hunt table is an exceptional example of Regency-period cabinetmaking. Also known as a social table...

1990s grand Mosaic white marble console table signed "Bebo" with the bases. Spectacular long marble table profusely decorated with Pietre Dure inl...

Pair of handmade rectangular pietre dure mosaic top using blue lapis lazuli, ocean jasp, blue amethyst and other semiprecious stones. Both tops are set in wooden hand carved relie...

Italian specimen marble inlaid top, early 19th century.

Marble tabletop covered in a mosaic of semi-precious hardstones, specially green malachite, as well as yellow travertine, brown Emperador and black Belgian marble. A work of craftsma...

Handcrafted reproduction of Italian 1700s ornamental design on black Belgian marble table top. Vases with flowers, clam shells, fishes and a myriad of elements are confirmed by the c...

Octagonal Belgian black marble table top profusely decorated with Italian Pietre Dure mosaic inlays using green malachite, dark blue lapis, light b...