Neoclassical table in lacquered pearwood

Middle table.
Lacquered pearwood and slate top.
20th century


Table with four claw feet surmounted by a scroll from which develop palmettes motifs on the central part.

This table is to be compared with the model illustrated by Percier et Fontaine in their Recueil de décorations intérieures, pl. XIII and the table designed by Thomas Hope in The Househould furniture, pl. XII.

The common source of inspiration for both pieces of furniture is an antique porphyry bathtub that stood in the Pantheon in Rome before being incorporated into the tomb of Pope Clement XII in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. This bathtub features the same claw feet surmounted by two volutes facing each other. It was known to Thomas Hope through the engravings of Charles Hearthcote Tatham and his book "Etchings... of ancient ornamental architecture".

Our model features the same central motif as Thomas Hope's drawings, from which it is strongly inspired.



Bibliography:

Recueil de décorations intérieures comprenant tout ce qui a rapport à l'ameublement [...] Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine, 1812.

Thomas Hope Regency Designer, ed. David Watkin & Philip Hewat-Jaboor.

Household furniture, Thomas Hope, 1807.