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Lot Essay
Conceived in a highly individual Roman Neo-Classical style, these superb and colourful console tables can be closely related to the well-documented set of four console-tables supplied by Antonio Asprucci (1732-1808) during the renovation of the Villa Borghese in 1780 for Prince Marcantonio Borghese (1730-1809).
In 1775, the 16th century gardens and villa, built for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), were remodelled by Prince Marcantonio Borghese, introducing a new architectural shell for his collection of old master paintings, sculpture, antiquities and works of art. Antonio Asprucci was responsible for the renovation of the interiors and oversaw the design of the furniture for the new Villa, collaborating with craftsmen such as Antonio Landucci (d. c.1782), Vincenzo Pacetti (1746-1820) and Luigi Valadier (1726-1785) .
Conceived for the ground floor gallery of the Villa, the set of four console-tables formed part of a larger commission of giltwood furniture, comprising corner-consoles, centre tables and seat furniture, including a set of ten celebrated ‘klismos’ chairs by Lucia Landucci (A. Gonzáles-Palacios, Il Gusto del Principi, arte di corte del XVII e del XVIII secolo, vol. II, Milan, 1993, p.238, fig.475). The refurnishing of the Villa Borghese is well documented in the household accounts of Prince Marcantonio Borghese, as well as the journals of Vincenzo Pacetti (see E. Peters Bowron (ed.) & J. J. Rishel (ed.), Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000, p. 173-175).
Much of the furniture from the Villa Borghese was sold at auction in 1892 when the Italian State acquired the Villa and its collection. As a result, the set of four console-tables passed into private hands, with a pair now in the Collection of Lord Rothschild, (A. Gonzáles-Palacios, Fasto Romano, Dipinti, Sculture, Arredi dai Palazzi di Roma, Rome, 1991, cat no. 133, p. 184-185). Another was acquired by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, for his summer house in Newport, the Breakers.
The present pair of console-tables shares the same stylistic vocabulary as the Borghese consoles and were almost certainly created at the same time. The bianco e nero ormolu-mounted marble tops rest on term-headed tapering legs modelled as inverted obelisks. Two related pairs of corner consoles with identical term figures, almost certainly by the same hand as the present lot, were offered for sale at Sotheby’s on 31st May 1996, lots 177 and 177A. It is possible that these corner consoles were converted from a single console-table. A further console table with closely related caryatid figures, also likely from the same workshop, however incorporating verde antico veneers to the supports, was offered for sale at Christies, London, 10 June 2004, lot 159, and is now in a Private Collection.
The frieze to the present pair of consoles is decorated with reverse painted Verre églomisé roundels depicting classical figures, such as Orpheus and Hercules, in imitation of classical cameos. A giltwood pendant is placed at the centre of each frieze, the first depicting Venus, the second portraying the river God Tiberinus. This painted decoration can be seen to relate to a further set of four polychrome painted console-tables and four corner consoles, commissioned for the Loggia del Lanfranco at the Villa Borghese. Decorated by Pietro Rotati, his accounts of 1780 list payment for four tables ‘dipinti a simulare il marmo detto rosso antico’ (A. Gonzáles-Palacios, op.cit, 1993, p. 237). The frieze to Rotati’s tables also incorporates a similar motif of painted roundels depicting classical themes such as the doves of Pliny, discovered in Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli in 1737.
In 1775, the 16th century gardens and villa, built for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), were remodelled by Prince Marcantonio Borghese, introducing a new architectural shell for his collection of old master paintings, sculpture, antiquities and works of art. Antonio Asprucci was responsible for the renovation of the interiors and oversaw the design of the furniture for the new Villa, collaborating with craftsmen such as Antonio Landucci (d. c.1782), Vincenzo Pacetti (1746-1820) and Luigi Valadier (1726-1785) .
Conceived for the ground floor gallery of the Villa, the set of four console-tables formed part of a larger commission of giltwood furniture, comprising corner-consoles, centre tables and seat furniture, including a set of ten celebrated ‘klismos’ chairs by Lucia Landucci (A. Gonzáles-Palacios, Il Gusto del Principi, arte di corte del XVII e del XVIII secolo, vol. II, Milan, 1993, p.238, fig.475). The refurnishing of the Villa Borghese is well documented in the household accounts of Prince Marcantonio Borghese, as well as the journals of Vincenzo Pacetti (see E. Peters Bowron (ed.) & J. J. Rishel (ed.), Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000, p. 173-175).
Much of the furniture from the Villa Borghese was sold at auction in 1892 when the Italian State acquired the Villa and its collection. As a result, the set of four console-tables passed into private hands, with a pair now in the Collection of Lord Rothschild, (A. Gonzáles-Palacios, Fasto Romano, Dipinti, Sculture, Arredi dai Palazzi di Roma, Rome, 1991, cat no. 133, p. 184-185). Another was acquired by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, for his summer house in Newport, the Breakers.
The present pair of console-tables shares the same stylistic vocabulary as the Borghese consoles and were almost certainly created at the same time. The bianco e nero ormolu-mounted marble tops rest on term-headed tapering legs modelled as inverted obelisks. Two related pairs of corner consoles with identical term figures, almost certainly by the same hand as the present lot, were offered for sale at Sotheby’s on 31st May 1996, lots 177 and 177A. It is possible that these corner consoles were converted from a single console-table. A further console table with closely related caryatid figures, also likely from the same workshop, however incorporating verde antico veneers to the supports, was offered for sale at Christies, London, 10 June 2004, lot 159, and is now in a Private Collection.
The frieze to the present pair of consoles is decorated with reverse painted Verre églomisé roundels depicting classical figures, such as Orpheus and Hercules, in imitation of classical cameos. A giltwood pendant is placed at the centre of each frieze, the first depicting Venus, the second portraying the river God Tiberinus. This painted decoration can be seen to relate to a further set of four polychrome painted console-tables and four corner consoles, commissioned for the Loggia del Lanfranco at the Villa Borghese. Decorated by Pietro Rotati, his accounts of 1780 list payment for four tables ‘dipinti a simulare il marmo detto rosso antico’ (A. Gonzáles-Palacios, op.cit, 1993, p. 237). The frieze to Rotati’s tables also incorporates a similar motif of painted roundels depicting classical themes such as the doves of Pliny, discovered in Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli in 1737.