The round mosaic table-top is adorned with a depiction of an eagle in a wreath that is surrounded by symbols of the four elements (a phoenix for fire, a calf for earth, an eagle for air and a dolphin for water). The table-top was created in the workshop of Francesco Beloni, a Roman artist who worked in Paris. A similar little table was displayed by the Jacob brothers at the Industrial Exhibition of 1801. The gueridon came into the Hermitage from the collection of the Duke of Leuchtenberg, the son of Eugène Beauharnais. It is reasonable to suppose that, like many other items in the same collection, it once belonged in the Château deMalmaison, although there is no documentary proof of this.