11675 – A LARGE AND MAGNIFICENT VENEERED ‘ALABASTRO A PECORELLA’ TABLE TOP SET ONTO GILT BRASS LOW TABLE BASE

11675 A LARGE AND MAGNIFICENT VENEERED ‘ALABASTRO A PECORELLA’ TABLE TOP WITH GILT BRONZE INSET EDGE NOW SET ONTO A WELL DESIGNED FINE QUALITY GILT BRASS LOW TABLE BASE The Top Probably Rome.Circa 1770. The Base Made For The Top, England.Circa 1970. H: 19 1/4″(48.9 cm); L: 61 1/2″(156.2 cm); D: 30 1/2″(76.7 cm).



Research
The rectangular alabastro a pecorella veneered top with gilt-bronze border trim on scrolled outcurved trestle ends raised on bun feet. One long edge with old re-veneering, perhaps indicating that this top was originally on a three sided table.

Provenance:
UK Art Trade 1970
Old US Collection

This impressive table top is veneered with alabastro a pecorella, a “vividly colored and strongly patterned”1 Algerian travertine. This very rare stone was imported and widely diffused in Imperial Rome beginning circa the 2nd century AD. Its name means “little sheep alabaster,” so called due to its patchy patterns thought to resemble a flock of sheep or sheep’s fleece.

Footnotes:
1. Herrmann Jr., J.J., A. van den Hoek and R. H. Tykot. ALABASTRO A PECORELLA, AÏN TEKBALET, AND BOU HANIFIA, ALGERIA: A PRELIMINARY REPORT. Co-authored with J. J. Herrmann Jr., and R. H. Tykot. Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone. Proceedings of the IX Association for the Study of Marblesand Other Stones in Antiquity (ASMOSIA) Conference(Tarragona 2009). 463-470. 463.

Full research report available on request.


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