Belgian Black Marble Center Tables

A stunning vintage Italian Empire Grand Tour style specimen marble 'pietra dura' table. Topped with a spectacular exhibition quality round specimen marble slab, featuring a large va...

A visually striking Empire style bronze mounted mahogany guéridon centre table with spectacular round exhibition style specimen marble top with central inlaid chessboard. Featuring ...

This large and exquisite Florentine pietra dura table top, attributed to the renowned Gaetano Bianchini, is beautifully presented on a carved giltwood base. Crafted in Italy circa 1870, the rectangular table top is profusely inlaid with rare specimen stones on a dramatic black marble ground. The exquisite commesso di pietre dure work depicts vibrant flowers among foliage, including roses, jasmine, daisies, petunias, and peace lilies, all framed within a conforming floral border with lapis lazuli stringing. The table is elevated by a carved giltwood base featuring double-column end supports that terminate in scrolled feet, elegantly joined by a stretcher centered with a seated putto. This remarkable piece survives in excellent antique condition, retaining the vibrant coloration of the specimen stones and the rich patina of the giltwood. A comparable Florentine pietra dura table top attributed to Gaetano Bianchini, mounted on a different base, was notably sold from the Freddie Mercury collection at Sotheby's London on September 6, 2023, lot 2, achieving a price of 114,300 British pounds. The art of inlaid marbles and hardstones, known as commesso di pietre dure, flourished in Florence under the patronage of the grand-ducal workshops, established in 1588, where the craft achieved unparalleled heights. By the early nineteenth century, however, production and innovation in this exquisite tradition had waned. It was through the efforts of enterprising private artists, such as Gaetano Bianchini, that this art form was revitalized and given a new lease of life. Trained at the prestigious Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Bianchini reimagined the possibilities of this technique. By incorporating softer stones and alternative materials, he expanded the chromatic range and artistic potential of pietre dure, while reducing production time. This innovation enabled him to establish a successful private workshop around 1825, making the art more commercially viable. By 1840, the fame of the Laboratorio Bianchini had spread widely, even attracting a visit from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, who offered Bianchini the directorship of the Imperial Lapidary Works at Peterhof. Bianchini declined, instead proposing to train Russian...

One of the most important early nineteenth century specimen hardstone table tops ever created, with 373 specimens, mounted on a beautifully designed and constructed base by Gillow. ...

A most impressive and uniquely scaled Italian mid 19th century Baroque st. Giltwood and black Belgian marble center table. This impressive table is raised by a crossed and mottled Gi...

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...

Black cube shape marble base brass stretchers square glass top coffee table. Cantilever design base Italian coffee table.

A superb quality Regency Neo-classical Thomas Hope design bronze stand/torchere. The original Belgian Black marble top sits on the bronze base. The stand headed with a continual loop...

An impressive Italian 19th century Baroque st. Pietra Dura marble center table. This wonderful table is raised by two rectangular marble pedestals supported on a mottled Vert de Patr...

Beautiful wood and brass side table designed by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno. The coffee table has a round curved plywood top, brass frame reaching to a black marble base from Belgium. ...

Greyge's Ted Coffee Olive coffee table is a sculptural object that celebrates the expressive power of solid olive wood, transforming it into a central element of the living environme...

A stunning and extremely high quality Italian 19th century Neo-Classical st. ormolu and black Belgian marble center table. The rectangular shaped table is raised by handsome square t...