Table

Historical photographs demonstrate that this piece was at one point, perhaps originally, a draw-top center table. The now stationary surface rested upon two extension leaves, each of which could be pulled out on the sides by using the volute brackets at the outer ends, which were subsequently firmly attached (see Fig. 238.1). Two runners, hidden behind the high apron boards, likely held each of the leaves in place. The apron boards are decorated with lozenge-shaped inlaid motifs filled with engraved stretched rosettes. The rectangular heavy traverse is connected to the top by turned balusters. Turned ornaments hang from the corners. The stretcher is divided into three fields carved with running guilloche. Two weighty volutes on either side form the bases that carry acanthusleaf scroll-volutes that support the central block. The stiles are richly ornamented with carved acanthus. Early photographs showing the object in situ at the Palazzo Davanzati, Florence, may capture the structure’s former state of preservation, with an overall dark patina (see Fig. 238.1). The inlaid lozenges and much of the carved details are barely detectable in the images. The pull-out enlargement mechanism fell out of favor during the industrial age, as the use of such tables was difficult other than in dining rooms. In the library or sitting room of the Lehman home, this table would have displayed books or collectibles, and the top could have been covered with equally valuable Renaissance textiles.2

Catalogue entry from: Wolfram Koeppe. The Robert Lehman Collection. Decorative Arts, Vol. XV. Wolfram Koeppe, et al. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 273-74.


NOTE:
1. See also 1975.1.1968.

[Elia Volpi, Palazzo Davanzati, Florence]; Volpi sale, American Art Association, New York, 21-28 November 1916, lot 441 (to [Duveen Brothers, New York]). Acquired by Philip Lehman through Duveen from the Volpi sale.