Pier table of carved and gilded poplar or limewood and pine, carved with dramatic scrolls and grotesque masks, and with a red marble top

Design

The table is raised on four supports carved with dramatic scrolling and grotesque masks, joined underneath by two stretchers also carved with scrolls and central masks set at an angle between the legs, one between the front legs and the other between the back legs, to give the appearance of a raked stretcher panel. The table has a deep frieze carved and pierced with scrolls centring on the mask of a young boy with a pierced scrolling cap. The decoration is broadly symmetrical but with a good deal of freedom in the carving. The slab is veneered in red brecciated marble, and is fully rectangular with an inset moulding.

Construction

Each of the legs is made of a single piece of poplar or limewood set at an angle with additional pieces glued and pinned to it to create the necessary depth for carving. Each leg stands on a pine plinth with a concave moulded top edge and rounded corners, the back corners canted. The top of each leg is notched to take the rectangular frame which supports the marble and which locks the table together. This frame is composed of boards 12.4 cm wide (5 inches), tenoned at the corners and fitted with a central crossrail which is dovetailed into the underside of the front and back slab rails. The frame and rail are 1.9 cm (3/4 inch) deep. The low stretchers at the sides are possibly tenoned into the front and back legs. The cross stretchers are now fixed with nineteenth-century screws but were probably originally either nailed or pegged to the inside of the legs. The extra elements required to provide the depth for the carving are glued, pegged and sometimes screwed to the legs. There are two layers of water gilding with some areas of oil gilding. There are cracks and losses to the gilding overall but it is stable. The end of the left scroll above the mask on the left leg has broken off at the glue line.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild Collection, Mentmore Towers, where it was in the Grand Hall in 1884; acquired by HMG for the nation, Mentmore Sale, 18-20 May 1977, lot 872

Lavishly gilded and richly carved with dramatic leafy scrolls and grotesque masks, this table represents the exuberance of late Roman Baroque design. This style was publicized by engravers like Filippo Passarini in Nuovi inventioni d' ornamenti (1698), and inspired by carvers like Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615 - 1674) and Ciro Ferri (1634 - 1689), whose works included papal thrones and ambassadorial coaches as well as tables, mirrors and chairs. The table came from Mentmore Towers, the Buckinghamshire residence of Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818 - 1874), where it was in the Grand Hall, together with a number of other pieces of Italian furniture including a pair of carved and gilded throne chairs from the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. While the extended Rothschild family was known throughout Europe for its association with French taste, Mayer Amschel de Rothschild was notable for his wide collecting interests, which included Italian, German, Dutch and, unusually, Russian furniture.

W.35-1977