Pier table of carved and gilded poplar or limewood, pine and oak, carved with rocaille and marine ornament, and with a green, red and yellow marble top

Design
The table is raised on four cabriole legs, each carved with rocaille and marine decoration, joined underneath by an X-shaped stretcher, also carved with rocaille and marine ornament. Each leg is decorated with a branch of foliage such as seaweed which seems to climb up the front of the leg. At the top of each leg is an open-mouthed dolphin, from which marine trophies hang, including sea shells, shellfish, pearls, starfish and coral. Each arm of the X-shaped stretcher also bears a dolphin head, with sea creatures issuing from its mouth, and at the centre of the X stretcher is another dolphin, with an eagle above it (the eagle possibly added later), about to attack the dolphin. The front of the table has a carved and pierced frieze of flowers, including roses and possibly poppies, and an extended apron with two mer-babies at the centre flanking an eagle. Smaller eagles sit at the very top of each leg under the marble slab. Each side has a frieze with a smaller apron of floral decoration including bell-shaped flowers. The table is covered with a thick layer of gesso and is oil gilded. The marble slab is shaped with concave sides, serpentine front and stepped founded outset sections over the legs. Its top edges are marked with an inset rounded moulding. It is veneered in verde antico on the vertical edges and a broad framing on the top, the centre of the top is in alabastro orientale, quartered and book-matched, and the inset rounded moulding is in yellow marble.

Construction
Each of the legs is made from a single piece of poplar or limewood set at an angle, with additional pieces pinned or glued to it to create the necessary depth for carving. There are holes at the top of the back of the back legs, possibly used for fixing to a wall to stabilise the table. The legs are joined at the base by an X-shaped stretcher with a bridle joint at the centre and tenoned (probably with loose tenons) to small spurs cut out from each leg. The ornament at the centre of the X stretcher is composed of pieces of poplar or limewood nailed and carved, reinforced underneath at the back with a shaped iron strap supporting the eagle. The front top rail is of a piece with the apron and is dovetailed at the front into the top of each front leg. Each side rail is dovetailed into the top of the front and back legs. The top part of the back rail is made of plain oak, dovetailed into the back legs. The table is reinforced with a pine framework which deepens the back rail and creates inner side rails andan inner front rail, the whole stabilised by a central crossrail running front to back. The table is also reinforced underneath with blacksmith-made iron straps, attached to the inside of the legs with large screws, probably nineteenth-century. The bottom of the front of the apron has broken off.

This table was published by Helena Hayward in 1964 as English, possibly by Thomas Johnson, but by the time the V&A acquired it in 1966 it had been reattributed to Italy, probably Genoa, on the basis of the strongly curved legs, abundant decoration and copious use of marine motifs. It was seen in 1970 by Alvar González Palacios, who also considered it to be Genoese.

The V&A bought the table for £1500 from a dealer, Mr Alex Lewis, who had discovered it in a hotel in Eastbourne owned by Mr. Pimms (of Pimms No. 1). It was regilded by a Mr Thomas in c.1965-66. The marbles were identified as alabastro orientale (centre) and verde antico (surround) by the Science Museum in 1971. Alabastro orientale is an onyx 'marble', a stalagmitic deposit of calcium carbonate, semi-translucent and normally banded. This type may be found in Sicily, Spain, Malta and Algiers

At the turn of the century the table was in the Great Room of 22 Arlington Street, owned at that time by Sir Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, the son of Lady Charlotte Guest (later Lady Charlotte Schreiber). This is documented in a photograph first illustrated in 'The King' of 1902 and re-illustrated in several subsequent publications (see bibliographic references) which show it in the Great Room as redecorated by Baron Wimborne in the 1880s.

On 14 April 1992 a fragment of leaf was found detached but caught in the carving of the apron. It came from the front face of the left front leg, about halfway up. This was sent to Conservation for re-attachment, together with six other fragments that had become detached and were in store.

During the 18th century the design of console tables (which had developed in the late 17th century to furnish the state rooms of palaces and grand houses) reflected a change in style away from baroque monumentality towards the lightness of the new, French-inspired rococo style, characterised by asymmetry, a use of exaggerated curved forms and naturalistic motifs. This table follows the rococo taste for watery motifs such as shells, the rocky formations of grottoes, and sea creatures, as well as the naturalistic ornament of tree trunks, flowers and reeds.

The table is thought to be Genoese, partly on account of this preponderance of marine imagery, especially appropriate for objects made in and for a city with such strong maritime associations. This attribution is also supported by the robust design and carving of the table. A strong tradition of carving developed in Genoa in the late 17th century, best exemplified by two monumental carved and gilded mirrors: one in Villa Durazzo Faraggiana, Albisola, by Filippo Parodi, and the ‘Brignole’ mirror in Palazzo Rosso, Genoa. The continuation of this tradition well into the 18th century is seen not only in the V&A table but also in tables and mirrors by carvers such as Francesco Maria Mongiardino and Bartolomeo Steccone that are still to be found in Genoese palaces and museums.

As a maritime and trading republic, Genoa had strong artistic links with France as well as other parts of Italy such as Rome, Bologna and Lombardy, facilitating the dissemination of the rococo style. This was seen in interior decoration as well as furnishings: by the 1740s Genoese palaces and suburban villas were beginning to see a decisive move away from the baroque tradition of large figurative ceiling paintings towards purely ornamental stucco work. The ceilings of villas such as the Villa Durazzo at Cornigliano feature rocaille elements similar to those seen in this table.

W.9:1-1966