Antique Italian Renaissance Style Carved Oak Table With a Drawer, circa 1880

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Antique Italian Renaissance Style Carved Oak Table With a Drawer, circa 1880

About the Item

A sensationally carved Renaissance style oak table with a drawer from Italy circa 1880. This table possesses a striking appearance because of the profuse carving seen over every surface that enables the table to be viewed from any direction while retaining its dramatic interest. The top of the table stands upon a support at each end featuring highly detailed dolphins whose sinuous bodies coil up while the tails meet in the centre of the base. Each of these supports feature a pair of turned columns placed above the base whose decorative appearance is reminiscent of those seen on buildings from the ancient past. The pattern of acanthus leaves on the lower turned section of each column is balanced by the foliate carving on the upper section and gives the round portion a sense of greater dimension. The two supports are joined by a horizontal stretcher that has a design of stacked pieces of timber each decorated with its own individual pattern along its entire surface and this decoration is in relation both stylistically and scale wise to relate to the overall design. All of the handsome carved decoration seen on this table is derived from the ruins and remnants still visible throughout Italy and Greece that were extremely influential in furniture design during the fourteen hundreds in Italy. The proportions that give ancient classical structures their eternal beauty were resurrected during the Renaissance and became the basis for almost everything produced. Please note that the entire apron of the table is also adorned with motifs taken from the past as well. Each corner is embellished with the head of a magnificent lion used since ancient times to denote power and strength. Placed at the corners as here the lions also symbolize a watchful and alert nature. Between the lion heads the frieze on all four sides has a central medallion area flanked on either side by large inverted teardrops that run the entire length of each side. The grand scale of the drops is in direct contrast to the narrow borders of ribbon pattern carving that frames the top of the table. It is interesting to see that the top of the table is largely a rectangle with each corner removed at a fourty five degree angle to give the shape of an octagon. This shape gives the lion heads much more prominence visually and directs the eye down to the animated dolphins below. This table also contains a drawer that remains essentially hidden because the carved decorative pattern in the apron where the drawer is located never seems to break and allow for a drawer. But the elaborate oval boss with scrolls above and below on one of the long sides is a handle that allows the drawer to be pulled open and pushed shut by grasping beneath. When closed entirely the drawer disappears and the table appears to be a centre table with a flat top for either serving, writing or for display of a collection. Having the drawer vastly increases the utility of the table and makes it a much more desirable piece of furniture.

Dimensions:
Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 39 in (99.06 cm)Depth: 28 in (71.12 cm)
Style:
Renaissance Revival (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Oak,Carved
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
c.1880
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Houston, TX
Reference Number:
Seller: EFG1611stDibs: U1112058668571