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  • Posts Tagged ‘Grimani family’

    WORLD RECORD FOR HARDSTONE INLAID TABLE TOP

    Thursday, December 10th, 2015
    This pietre dure table top sold for a record £3.5 million.

    This pietre dure table top sold for a record £3.5 million.

    A world record price for a hard stone inlaid table top was established at Sotheby’s in London today when the Grimani table top sold for £3,509,000.  There were two.  Made in Florence circa 1600-1620 and with a  provenance that is fully documented since 1623 the first sold for  £3,509,000. Five bidders competed in a 10-minute bidding battle.  The high estimate was £600,000. It is thought that this pietre dure top with the arms and symbols of the Grimani Family was probably a gift from a member of the Medici family.

    No fewer than four bidders vied for the second table top which sold to a private collector for £1,625,000  – the second highest price for an inlaid Roman table top sold at auction with a top estimate of £500,000. From the last quarter of the 16th century it was purchased by or given to a member of the Grimani family, in all likelihood Doge Marino Grimani (1532 – 1605) whilst in Rome in 1585 and 1592.