A PAIR OF 18TH CENTURY WHITE PAINTED CONSOLE TABLES WITH ORIGINAL ALABASTRO ‘A TARATARUGA’ MARBLE TOPS, IN THE MANNER OF WILLIAM KENT
THE CRISPNESS OF THE CARVING ON THESE WELL-PROPORTIONED TABLES HAS BEEN PRESERVED UNDER LAYERS OF LATER APPLIED GILDING, LIKELY DURING THE 19TH CENTURY. THESE LATER LAYERS HAVE NOW BEEN CAREFULLY REMOVED WITH PAINSTAKING HAND DRY-STRIPPING TO REVEAL THE ORIGINAL STONE-WHITE PAINTED SURFACE BENEATH, SYNONYMOUS WITH MUCH KENTIAN FURNITURE OF THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY.
THE VITALITY AND CONFIDENCE OF THE CARVING, NOT ONLY IN THE OVERALL DRAWN DESIGN OF THE TABLES BUT ALSO IN THE CLOSELY OBSERVED DETAILS, CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY REGARDED 18TH CENTURY ENGLISH MAKERS AND DESIGNERS, SUCH AS WILLIAM KENT. THESE TABLES STAND AS A REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF 18TH CENTURY HISTORY, PRESERVED TO HONOUR THEIR TIMELESS BEAUTY, INTRICACY, AND STRONG POSTURAL FORM.
THE TABLES EXHIBIT THE MOST STRIKING OF 18TH CENTURY CARVING MOTIFS; AN EGG AND DART AND GADROONED FRIEZE, DRAWN WITH ‘CANTED’ CORNERS TO SUPPORT THE ORIGINAL ANCIENT ALABASTER TOPS, WITH GENTLY SHAPED ACANTHUS CARVED CABRIOLE LEGS INCORPORATING OVERLAPPING BULLSEYE ROUNDELS, AND FISH SCALE CARVING ON THE RETURNS. THE CENTRAL LOOPED SWAGS HANG SOFTLY BETWEEN THE TWO FRONT LEGS - LOOSELY DRAPED GARLANDS OF RIBBON BOUND LAUREL LEAVES, DAPPLED WITH SMALL BERRIES.
ALABASTRO ‘A TARTARUGA’, OF WHICH THE THICK VENEERED TOPS ARE CONSTRUCTED, IS SAID TO HAVE COME FROM IANO, OUTSIDE MONTAIONE IN TUSCANY. STONE QUARRIED IN ANCIENT TIMES WAS REUSED BY THE ‘SCALPELLINI’ OF ROME IN THE 18TH CENTURY. THESE SKILLED ROMAN ‘STONE CUTTERS’ GAVE THIS PARTICULAR ALABASTER (ALSO KNOWN AS ‘ONYX’ IN SOME VERNACULAR) THE NAME 'TARTARUGATA' (ITALIAN FOR TORTOISE OR TURTLE). FOR ITS TORTOISESHELL-LIKE MARKINGS - APALE AMBER MATRIX, CONTAINING DEEP VARIATION, OPALESCENCE, AND CLOUD-LIKE ‘CLASTS’. HENRY OF AVRANCHES (D.1260), THE COSMOPOLITAN 13TH CENTURY LATIN POET AND SECULAR PRIEST, LIKENED ALABASTER TO THE SHINING JASPER MENTIONED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, AND TO THE PEARLYSHEEN OF A CURVED HUMAN FINGERNAIL (EVIDENTLY AN ALLUSION TO ONYX, THE NAME OF WHICH DERIVES DIRECTLY FROM THE GREEK FOR 'CLAW' OR 'FINGERNAIL'). IN ROMAN MYTHOLOGY, CUPID TRIMS THE FINGERNAILS OF HIS SLEEPING MOTHER, THE GODDESS VENUS - THE CLIPPINGS TOPPLING INTO THE RIVER INDUS, CREATING COMPLEX ALABASTER FORMATIONS WITHIN THE ROCKY BANKS.
WITH LATER, REPLACEMENT BLOCKS TO THE FEET; ALL OTHER CARVING EXTANT AND ORIGINAL. ANALYSIS OF THE PAINTED SURFACE (UNDERTAKEN BY CATHERINE HASSALL, AND AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST), DETAILS THE ORIGINAL AND PRESENT LAYER OF STONE-WHITE PAINT UNDER MICROSCOPE.
H 98CM, 38 1/2” X W 118.5CM, 46 1/2” X D: 48CM, 19” (THICKNESS OF TOPS: 5.5CM, 2 1/4”)
LITERATURE; SUSAN WEBER, WILLIAM KENT: DESIGNING GEORGIAN BRITAIN, 2013.
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