English Rosewood Center Table

This remarkable rosewood centre table attributed to legendary firm Gillows showcases masterful craftsmanship and stunningly rare hardstone specimens. The table's base is ornately crafted, complete with lion's paw feet, emphasizing the quality of the wood. The most impressive element of this beautiful piece of furniture, however, is the exquisite inlaid table top. Featuring eighteen semi-precious and hardstone specimens artfully arranged in alternating geometric shapes, rare stones like gem quality Lapis Lazuli, Egyptian porphyry and Siberian amethyst dazzle the eye. Other stones and specimens inlaid in square, circle and hexagon shapes include pyrite lapis lazuli, malachite, green aventurine, agate of amethyst, greek spartan porphyry, labradorite, fossilized wood, occhio di pavone, brèche verte d'égypte, sicilian jaspers, blood stone, spanish brocatelle, siena brocatelle, convent siena and nero antico. The sheer variety and superb quality of these features is an overwhelming visual delight and a triumph of craftsmanship. Hardstone pieces such as this were popular among the British aristocracy...

Pietra Paesina is one of the most scarce and wondrous stones on earth, and the surface of this exceptional early 19th-century center table is inset with...

This ingenious late Regency card table was designed with both beauty and entertainment in mind. When not in use, its folded D-shaped top sits against the wall providing an elegant si...

This exceptionally rare circular expanding dining table was designed by Robert Jupe and crafted by the English cabinetmakers Johnstone & Jeanes, successors to Johnstone, Jupe & Co. One of only a handful known from the firm, this table illustrates the Victorian era's quest to combine technical innovation with superb and beautiful craftsmanship. Complete with its original leaves, the table’s circular top is formed from eight separate segments. When the top is rotated, an ingenious swivel mechanism causes the sections to diverge, allowing a set of small or large leaves to be inserted for an adjustable increase in size. The design for the table was patented by Robert Jupe in 1835, who had envisioned “an improved expanding table so constructed that the sections composing its surface may be caused to diverge from a common center and that the spaces caused thereby may be filled up by inserting leaves or filling pieces.” The first of these fascinating tables were created between 1835 and 1840 during his partnership with John Johnstone and their firm of Johnstone, Jupe & Co. in London. Jupe left the company in 1840, after which the firm changed its name due to a new partnership and became Johnstone & Jeanes. The firm would eventually achieve international fame for its remarkable designs, exhibiting a "circular table made on the expanding principle" like this one at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Jupe was not alone in his fascination with combining the technical merits of engineering and mechanics with the more artful pursuit of cabinet making. The first half of the 19th century saw a prolific increase in the popularity of applying new ideas to furniture principles, which allowed furniture to serve many purposes. The resulting “patent” furniture...

This Louis XIV-style French table features an intricately carved giltwood base with an exceptional level of detail, providing an extraordinary example of the opulent style. The base ...

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...

English Regency mahogany tilt-top circular center table with a carved molded edge, supported by a vase form bulbous ringed pedestal, original brass locking mechanism, and resting on ...

English mahogany tilt top center table with octagon shaped pedestal, tripod base, and resting on the original lion's paw feet with brass casters. Table has original brass locking mec...

Terrazzo top Black and creme custom, Center Table, with brass trim between Creme and Black Lined top on a Black lacquer circular compartment. Sectioned b...

19th century English Regency style rosewood rectangular center table with brass trim on top and 2 carved gilt dolphins supported on platform base with gilt scroll feet.

The large round tabletop painted in a mottled red-brown faux marble finish with a bull nose edge. Raised on a classical carved solid tripod base with faux marble painted panels and e...

A fine 19th century Italian inlaid center table.