'THE ROTHSCHILD RAFFAELLI MOSAIC TABLE' AN IMPORTANT ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC AND SIENA MARBLE CENTRE TABLE ATTRIBUTED TO GIACOMO RAFFAELLI AND HIS WORKSHOP, ROME OR MILAN, C.1800-10 the circular top finely inlaid with an outer laurel wreath and a band of rinceaux decoration of scrolling leaves and stylised flowers on a white ground, with an inner border of a ribbon spiralling around a vine with leaves and morning glory flowers, the centre with quarter veneered Egyptian alabaster and a lapis lazuli rondel, the revolving top with a gilt bronze band with engine turned decoration, on a Siena marble base, the stem carved with acanthus leaves, the triform plinth carved with further leaves and fluting with a band of ribbon tied laurel leaves 93.3cm high, 95.8cm diameter Provenance Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918) the Winter Garden at Halton House, Buckinghamshire Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942) Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) The Trustees of Exbury House Literature Rothschild Archive, London, Manuscript: 000/174/C/3,, Christie, Manson & Woods Probate Valuation of 'The Estate of Alfred C. de Rothschild, Esq. C.V.O. Deceased, Halton House Tring', 1918. Listed as 'An Italian circular table, with mosaic top on giallo marble tripod carved with acanthus foliage, £80.0.0.' Catalogue Note Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) was born in Rome and his family were involved in the mosaic industry providing smalti to the Vatican Mosaic Workshop, the material which mosaics are made of. Giacomo studied painting and sculpture at an early age. He became one of the most celebrated artists in hardstones and mosaics and is credited with the invention of micromosaics in about 1775. He was patronised by Pope Pius XV and worked in both the Vatican workshops as well as from his own studio in Piazza di Spagna. Raffaelli executed a wide variety of objects and furnishings and attained international fame that culminated in 1787 when he was awarded the title 'Councillor of Liberal Arts' by Stanislaus II Augustus, King of Poland. In Rome, he had workshops on the Salita di San Sebastianello and later in Vita del Balbuino. Following the French occupation of Rome in 1797 and the collapse of the local mosaic market he moved to Milan to direct a mosaic workshop and school. This had been founded at Napoleon's orders by Eugene de Beauharnais (Napoleon's stepson) who became Viceroy of Italy in 1805. During the Milan period he executed the monumental Last Supper based on a copy by Giuseppe Bossi. He also produced a fireplace and clock that were said to have been presented to Napoleon as gifts from Pius VII and later housed at Malmaison. He returned to Rome around 1817-20 to his home at 92 Via Babuino (which was designed by the Neo-classical architect Giuseppe Valadier) where he passed away in 1936. Raffaelli's output was considerable. Some of his most important commissions were for the Polish court, including a portrait of the King's brother Prince Michael Poniatowski, Bishop of Poland. He also supplied a pair of specimen marble centre tables to Sir Clifford Constable, for Burton Constable (now in Temple Newsam) and the impressive 'Centrepiece of the Viceroy', probably made for Eugene de Beuharnais (displayed in the Villa Carlotta, Cadenabbia). The Attribution Giacomo Raffaelli is considered the only master of both hardstones and micromosaics. The use of both media in our table point to his manufacture. We can observe various techniques in the making of the mosaic table which also points to Raffaelli. For instance, the inner ribbon band uses both oval and rectilinear tesserae in a naturalistic floral pattern which is evident in his other tables. Other trademark techniques are also evident, including horizontal rows of background tesserae, the outlining of leaves with a single row of tesserae and meticulous execution. The use of rinceaux was a popular motif in tables made at the end of the 18th century by Raffaelli and his contemporaries, for example the pair of tables supplied by Pompeo Savini to the Polish Court at Castello Reale, Warsaw and the pair of tables by Andrea and Michelangelo Volpini at Syon House. Two circular table tops using a band of rinceaux on a white ground are attributed to the studio of Raffaelli di San Sebastianello and they are illustrated in 'Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) Maestro di Stile e di Mosaico' by Anna Maria Massinelli pp.262-263, fig.302 and 303. One in a private collection, the other in the Museo Civici in Bologna. Napoleon and Roman Micromosaics Napoleon and his wife Josephine were avid collectors of micromosaic works of art evidenced by the gift of a pair of vases and a clock by Pope Pius VII on his coronation in Paris in 1804. Following the Napoleonic occupation in Rome between 1808-1814 the Vatican workshops became directly responsible to the Imperial Crown and were commissioned to furnish Napoleon's apartments at the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome. The symbolism employed on our table points to the Napoleonic style, in particular the use of a laurel wreath on the top, also the laurel and acanthus on the wonderful marble base and finally the impressive gilt bronze edge. It is interesting to speculate whether this table was made during Raffaelli's period in Milan possibly as a commission by the Napoleonic Court. We would like to thank Dr Jeanette Gabriel for her help in cataloguing this present lot. For recent auction sales of micromosaic tables attributed to Giacomo Raffaelli, see Christie's, Julians Park, Hertfordshire, 8th June 2021, lot 30 which was inlaid with birds, butterflies and grapes and sold for £100,000. Also Sotheby's, New York, 19th century Furniture and Decorative Arts, 15th October 2015, lot 25 for a rectangular table inlaid with rinceaux and a central oval panel of the Doves of Pliny, $181,250, Christie's, Amsterdam, The Decorative Arts Sale, 22nd September 2010, lot 441 EUR 217,000 for an oval table decorated with goldfinch and Brunk Auctions, Asheville, 6th September 2003, lot 260, the micromosaic top on a painted wood base by Thomas Hope, $400,000. Comparative Literature Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel, Micromosaics in Private Collections. Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection, Micromosaics. Anna Maria Massinelli, Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) Maestro di stile e di mosaico. E. M. Efimova, West European Mosaics of the 13th-19th centuries in the Collection of the Hermitage.
