An Italian specimen marble table top on an Irish George II giltwood stand. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £482,500
An Italian specimen marble table top on an Irish George II giltwood stand attributed to Thomas Johnson is a highlight at The Exceptional Sale at Christie’s in London on July 10. The table top was produced in Rome in the last 16th century. The stand, to a design by Thomas Darly, dates to c1756-58. The rectangular table top is centred by an oval of red alabaster from Tunisia and there are a number of points of comparison with The Farnese Table, made in Rome in the 16th century and now at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. That table originally belonged to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III.
The Exceptional Sale provides collectors with an opportunity to acquire masterpieces of European furniture and decorative arts. It is highlighted by an Egyptian statue, Sekhemka and a bronze sculpture by Giambologna.