Table
ca. 1820 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
British collectors greatly admired slabs of specimen marbles, particularly those made up in Rome of classical and later marbles. This slab, with 137 specimens of different Italian marbles, belonged to three different collectors, Dr. John Fothergill (1712-1780), Dr. J.C. Lettsom (1744-1815) and the architect George Gwilt (1775-1856). Gwilt was an enthusiastic collector of antiquities which he kept in his house in Southwark, London, and he acquired the slab before he visited Italy in 1824. Although slabs of specimen marbles were generally supplied with a diagram and list of the individual specimens for identification, these keys often do not survive. This slab has the original Italian key, handwritten in ink, which identifies each of the different marbles, including pieces from classical ruins in Rome. Like many collectors, Gwilt commissioned a stand for the slab so it could be used as a side table.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Marble and mahogany with carved decoration |
| Brief description | Table with Italian specimen marble top made in about 1760, on a mahogany base made Britain, 1815-25 with two carved and scrolling front legs and two back legs, plus two copies of a list of the marbles in the table top. |
| Physical description | Rectangular table top with 137 specimens of foreign marbles set within black marble frame. Horizontal frame supported on two flat back legs and two scrolling front legs with anthemion, rosette and leaf decoration and paw feet, standing on plinth with concave front |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by the Governors of Imperial College |
| Object history | This slab, with 137 specimens of different Italian marbles, belonged to three different collectors, Dr. John Fothergill (1712-1780), Dr. J.C. Lettsom (1744-1815) and the architect George Gwilt (1775-1856). Gwilt was an enthusiastic collector of antiquities which he kept in his house in Southwark, London, and he acquired the slab before he visited Italy in 1824. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | British collectors greatly admired slabs of specimen marbles, particularly those made up in Rome of classical and later marbles. This slab, with 137 specimens of different Italian marbles, belonged to three different collectors, Dr. John Fothergill (1712-1780), Dr. J.C. Lettsom (1744-1815) and the architect George Gwilt (1775-1856). Gwilt was an enthusiastic collector of antiquities which he kept in his house in Southwark, London, and he acquired the slab before he visited Italy in 1824. Although slabs of specimen marbles were generally supplied with a diagram and list of the individual specimens for identification, these keys often do not survive. This slab has the original Italian key, handwritten in ink, which identifies each of the different marbles, including pieces from classical ruins in Rome. Like many collectors, Gwilt commissioned a stand for the slab so it could be used as a side table. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.54:1,2-1953 |
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| Record created | June 8, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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