Pair of 'Grand Tour' Models of the Temples of Vespasian and Castor & Pollux

A grand tour circular table top Possibly by Domenico Moglia The circular platform of marmore nero, inset with fine micromosaic panels consisting of hundreds of coloured glass tesserae; a central flower bouquet sit within a malachite border surrounded by a border including four cartouches in conforming malachite reserves representing Roman views including the Arch of Titus, the Temple of Vesta, the Capitoline Hill, and the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, connected by floral garlands. Italy, circa 1855 Domenico Moglia (1780 - 1862) Brothers, Luigi and Domenico Moglia, are celebrated as two of the few great mosaicists of the 19th century. Both are recorded as exhibiting at the 1851 Great Exhibition, London. Domenico's work included micromosaics plaques depicting views of 'the roman forum', 'the colosseum', and the 'temples of Paestum.' The Lombardi Museum contains a collection of architectural...

A most unusual model of a Detached House The façade constructed of wine corks, with a grotto shell front garden. circa 1830.

A Grand Tour Centre Table The Top Attributed to Cesare Roccheggiani The carved gilt wood base in the manner of George Smith having four monopedia supports, each depicting leopards heads atop, with paw feet below, and conjoined by an incurved stretcher base having carved stiff leaf decoration, and raised on castors; the circular platform of marmoro nero, with a stylised Greek Key border within double Malachite reserves; the central micromosaic roundel depicts The Vatican from St Peter's Square, surrounded by eight separate roundels of The Pantheon of the Gods; the smallest of Rome's seven hills, the Capitoline; The Mauseoleum of Hadrian on the Tiber; The Roman Forum, with the remnants of the Temple of Vespasian; The Colosseum; the Temple of Vesta; The Arch of Titus, and the Tomb of Cecilia Metella. English / Italian, Circa 1875 The attribution to Cesare Roccheggiani is supported by Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel, former curator of the Gilbert Collection and Honorary Curator for the Gilbert Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Provenance: From a Noble family, the 6th Earl of Macclesfield (1811-1896) then by descent. The base is similar in design to designs published by George Smith's A Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1808. The taste for monopedia supports was of fashion, in the Regency period and models of such were displayed in the 1851 Great Exhibition. The Macclesfield coat of arms depicts a shield with a central chevron and three leopard's faces. Views of Roman monuments was the most popular theme used by mosaicists in Rome in the beginning of the 19th century, supplying the flow of wealthy Grand tourists from Northern Europe. From small gold boxes...

A rare grand tour table Possibly by Cesare Roccheggiani The circular platform of marmore nero, inset with fine micromosaic panels consisting of thousands of coloured glass tesserae; a central roundel depicting The Vatican from St Peter's Square within a malachite border, surrounded by a border including four cartouches in polychrome reserves of Roman views including the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, with the remnants of the Temple of Vespasian; the Temple of Vesta, and the Pantheon, all interspersed and linked by voluminous bouquets of fruit and flowers representing the 4 seasons; the outer stylised border inlaid with deep blue tesserae evocative of exotic Lapis Lazuli. Supported on a finely carved Italian giltwood base, its design incorporating baskets of fruit and floral garlands echoing the 4 seasons theme of the table. Italian, Circa 1875 Other table tops inspired by this design, although not as finely executed, can be found in several Russian collections (which house the greatest micromosaics) including Vorontsov Palace, Muranovo House, as well as the imperial State Hermitage Museum. A tabletop with profuse floral micromosaic work was commissioned by the Belgian Royal family (sold Sotheby's, 2003). The floral garlands, the magnificent quality of the inlay and the use of distinct curved tesserae support the present attribution to Cesare Roccheggiani. According to Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel, the world expert on micro mosaics, curved tesserae pieces were used in foliage, grass and animal fur by only the very best mosaicists such as Roccheggiani. Evidence of curved pieces, for instance, is observed in the foreground of the Temple of Vesta cartouche, to name but one observation of the master's hand. The scion of a dynasty of mosaicists, Roccheggiani was perhaps the most successful mosaicist in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He is doubtless related to Lorenzo Roccheggiani, a late eighteenth-century master mosaicist at the Vatican, whose work included the altarpiece, Crucifixion of St. Peter after Guido Reni. Nicolo Roccheggiani, possibly Lorenzo's son, was also a principle artist at the Vatican, involved in executing the famous tabletop Achilles Shield...