6: Russian Furniture of the Late 18th - First Half of the 19th Centuries

Table

Mid-19th century

Peterhof Lapidary Works

Russia

Tabletop made by I.V. Sokolov

75x60x60 cm

Wood, stone; woodcarving, gilding, Florentine mosaic

This table was undoubtedly intended for a state room interior. Its stone top, contained in a carved frame, is decorated around the edge by a bright wreath of flowers on a dark background worked in the Florentine mosaic technique. The shape of the gilded wooden base was inspired by works of the Baroque period. The skilfully executed sculptural composition - a little figure of a putto with a stylized palm-branch - has a typically Baroque dynamism about it and looks superb when viewed from all angles. The popularity of such table bottoms in the mid-19th century is shown by appearance of different variations in both wood and bronze. The earliest example of a table of this kind with a bronze base and "Goldfinch" mosaic tabletop was displayed at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Today it is in the Hermitage collection.