'THE ROTHSCHILD HALTON SALON TABLES'

'THE ROTHSCHILD HALTON SALON TABLES'

λ AN IMPORTANT NEAR PAIR OF FRENCH ROSEWOOD AND ORMOLU MOUNTED

TABLES DE MILIEU

IN LOUIS XVI STYLE, ATTRIBUTED TO LOUIS-AUGUSTE-ALFRED BEURDELEY, C.1850-60

each with a rectangular Sarrancolin opera marble top with a moulded edge, above a breakfront frieze, one mounted with two 17th century Florentine pietra dura tablets inlaid with figures after engravings by Callot, the other mounted with a pair of micromosaic plaques, decorated with scrolling foliage and flower mounts, on tapering column legs with Ionic capitals, laurel leaf bands, on acanthus toupie feet, damages to marble tops (2)

87.5cm high, 138.2cm wide, 76cm deep and 88.2cm high, 143.5cm wide, 76cm deep

Provenance

Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918) the Central Hall / Salon, Halton House, Buckinghamshire

Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942)

Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009)

The Trustees of Exbury House

Literature

Rothschild Archive, London, Manuscript: 000/174/C/3, Christie, Manson & Woods Probate Valuation of 'The Estate of Alfred C. de Rothschild, Esq. C.V.O. Deceased, Halton House Tring', 1918. Listed as 'A pair of side tables, of Louis XVI design, mounted with ormolu friezes richly chased with foliage and with mosaic plaques in the centre, the tops formed of fleur-de-peche marble'.

Catalogue Note

These impressive tables were potentially bespoke made for the hardstone and mosaic plaques found on their friezes. They were displayed pride of place in the Central Hall / Salon at Halton Hose, see the photographs of them in-sitU C.1888. The quality of their ormolu mounts and their 'improved look' point to an attribution to the Paris firm of cabinet makers, Beurdeley.

The business was established in 1804 by Jean Beurdeley who was noted as a 'marchand de curiosites'. Louis-Auguste-Alfred Beurdeley (French 1808 - 1882) took over the firm in 1840 and relocated the business to rue Louis-Legrand where he elevated the quality of their manufacture. Not only did they produce grand furniture but they became prominent dealers in French furniture and objets d'art. According to Christopher Payne in his book 'Paris Furniture: the luxury market of the 19th century', the Beurdeley dynasty was 'one of the best makers, their work is always of a very high quality, technically superb'.

The Pietra Dura

The two Italian pietra dura panels mounted on one of the tables depict dwarf caricatures taken from designs by Baccio del Bianco (1604-1657) based on engravings by Jacques Callot (1592-1635) from his book, titled 'Varie Figure Gobbi' (1612-1622). Del Bianco worked extensively for the Medici, designing objects in various media and organising spectacles. Callot's book, which was published in 1616, depicts a 16th century travelling troupe of performing dwarfs who were at the court of Cosimo II.

Similar plaques can be found on a table formerly in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild and now in the Gilbert Collection in the Victorian & Albert Museum. It stood (with its pair) in the glass domed Salon opposite our present tables at Halton House, Buckinghamshire. Four plaques can be found on the Hume / Beckford cabinet at Charlecote Park, Warwickshire and further examples can be seen on a tabletop at Versailles.

Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios in his book 'The Art of Mosaic: Selections from the Gilbert Collection', originally dated these pietra dura plaques to the 18th century of Opificio manufactory but more recently in his work 'Il gusto dei Principi' he has attributed them to the first half of the 17th century. Annamaria Giusti noted in her book 'Pietre Dure: L'arte europea del mosaico negli arredi e nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800', most of the 17th century plaques with this subject matter are mounted in 18th and 19th century furniture.

The Micromosaic

The other table is mounted with a pair of early micromosaic plaques, worked with scrolling foliage on a black ground. The colouring of the mosaic matches the colouring employed on the magnificent micromosaic table top by Don Giacomo Pellice