Micromosaic, marble, and gilt wood table with rooster and hens, Rome or Turin, Don Giacomo Pellicea, 1775-85.

A rectangular tabletop inlaid with a mosaic edged in verde antico marble. The central oval reserve of the mosaic, framed by a band of Vitruvian scrolls, depicts two hens on the left and a cockerel on the right, their beaks lowered to the ground. In the left background is a distant mountain and in the middle background, low foliage. The remaining ground is composed of scrolling acanthus arabesques with two large and two small blue rosettes on each end, all within a Greek-key pattern trompe l'oeil border.

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

This table top served as a companion to a Gilbert hardstone table; both were in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild at Halton, Buckinghamshire, and possibly acquired by Alfred from Baron Lionel de Rothschild, for whom the matching 19th century giltwood stands are thought to have been made.

Historical significance: This is one of the earliest mosaics in the Gilbert Collection and illustrates a transitional phase in technique. Using a limited colour range, the four-sided mosaic tesserae are arranged in linear patterns used in antique mosaics.

Don Giacomo Pellizza or Pellicea, was in Turin around 1778 when he was instructor 'in the art of composing mosaics' to Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia (1726-1796), whose territories extended to Turin.
In June 1785, Victor Amadeus III presented a group of gifts to Ferdinand IV, King of Naples (1751-1825), on the occasion of the latter's visit to Turin, including a mosaic table, after a design by the court painter Ludovico Tesio (1731-1782) (Martin Chapman, 'A Diplomatic Gift from Turin', European Royal Tables - International Symposium, Lisbon, 1999, pp. 72-85).
While there is no record, nor description, of that table, two other examples signed by Pellicea are still in this Palazzo Reale in Turin: one very similar, but with a central scene depicting three doves picking a bunch of grape, after an antique scene by the sculptor Prassitele (No. 00201564), and one with a view of Castel Sant'Angelo (Turin) within a geometrical border (No.0100202170). Both mosaics were confiscated by the French in 1798 but transferred back from Paris in 1811 - 1815 in the Royal Appartments where they have stayed since then.
(Catalogo Generale Dei Beni Culturali.it)

Mosaic after a design by Ludovico Tesio (1731-82).

The four-sided pieces (tesserae) of this early micromosaic create a more linear effect than the subtler gradations of later micromosaics, which use smaller pieces of varied shapes and sizes. The realistic depiction of the poultry was inspired by the Dutch artist Melchior d'Hondecoeter (about 1636-95).

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.

LOAN:GILBERT.85:1, 2-2008