An Italian scagliola trompe l'oeil table top depicting maps of the Middle East from Gerhard Mercator's Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia, dated 1584, of Asiae IIII and V and the cartouche from Frederick de Wit's map of Persia (circa 1660), possibly Tuscan and by Carlo Gibertoni (1635-1696) late 17th century

together with navigational instruments including a pair of compasses, a 30-60 set square a quill and an ivory diptych dial and a scroll, now on a later  carved walnut base with turned legs

Comparative Literature:
Graziano Manni, I Maestri della Scagliola in Emilia Romagna e Marche, Modena, MCMXCVII, pp. 78-81, figs. 59-64, for various trompe l'oeil maps by Gibertoni.
Anna Maria Massinelli, Scagliola l'arte della pietra di luna, Rome, 1997, p. 8, figs. 3 & 4.

The maps depicted on this rare scagliola table top are based upon Gerard Mercator's 1584 Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia which was printed in Cologne in 1584. It comprised 28 maps based on the original mathematical co-ordinates of Claudius Ptolemy (d.168 A.D.), from which the first printed maps were published in 1477. 

The two maps shown are (on the left) Tabula Asiae IIII and (on the right) the western half of Tabula Asiae V. The ornate title cartouches correspond precisely with the decoration and text on the Mercator versions. The two maps are depicted as a trompe l'oeil. The first map shows territories bordering the Mediterranean Sea: Cilicia, Cappadocia, Armenia, Cypress, Syria, Palestine and Egypt; this includes modern day Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. It moves east into the Arabian Desert, Arabia Foelicis, Mesopotamia, Assyria and Babylonia; modern day Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.The second map overlaps the first, repeating parts of Assyria, Mesopotamia and Babylonia, before moving east to show the Caspian Sea, Media, Susiana, Persis and the Persian Gulf; modern day Iran.  

The corners are decorated from left to right with navigational instruments that might have been used when examining the maps. Top left shows a pair of dividers for measuring distance and use as a drawing compass. A 30-60 set square, for drawing parallel and perpendicular lines accurately, is overlaid on the map. At the top right there is the depiction of a quill, and lower right shows an ivory diptych dial (sundial) for latitudes 37 to 40 degrees north with a table of latitudes listing 24 Spanish cities. On the lower left a scroll is depicted. The Spanish towns listed in the diptych dial is a significant feature in the scagliola composition and indicates that this top was made for someone with Spanish connections. It is likely that the scagliola was a gift to commemorate ambassadorial or trade relations between the two regions or commissioned by a wealthy Spanish merchant trading in these territories. Persian textiles and carpets were valued in distant lands for many centuries, first by monarchs, then by newly emergent middle classes. The prominence of Babylonia is another significant and unique feature of the scagliola as it is not encircled or magnified in Mercator’s maps. Bablylon is shown on the bottom right of the Asia IIII map on the scagliola and a magnifying glass lies over Bablyoniae pars on the bottom left of Asia V on the scagliola highlighting the area. At the beginning of the sixth century BCE, the silk trade route started in Babylon, and this trading connection may relate to the commission and be the reason why Babylon is highlighted in the scagliola.

The maps are charmingly penned and annotated throughout with lighthouses, forts, mountain ranges and rivers. The scagliola could well have been commissioned from one of the Carpi Workshops in Bologna which were one of the leading specialists in scagliola since the 17^th century, either by or for someone with Spanish and Persian connections. Also trompe l’oeil work in table tops can be associated with 18^th century Spain, due to Ferdinand VI of Spain’s patronage of the technique.  

It would appear that Carlo Gibertoni was the first artist in scagliola to create scagliola tops featuring cartographical compositions. The taste for such tops was driven by the systematic mapping of distant parts of the globe in the 17th century and resulted in their dissemination throughout Italy, France and England. 

Manni, op. cit.. p.80-81, illustrates related tops by the Gibertoni including:

-p. 80, figs. 61-61- a top (on a base) signed and dated 1695 depicting India (sold as lot 363, Sotheby's Milan, 11th June 1997).

-p. 81, figs. 63-64, a pair of tables with tops both signed and dated 1695, depicting America and Asia, originally from the Strozzi Sacrati collection,(sold as lot 326, Sotheby's, Milan,15th December 1992). It was dedicated to Princess Violante Beatrice of Bavaria, who in 1688 married Ferdinando dei Medici (1672-1731).

Gibertoni produced other table tops with sheet music and playing cards as well as cartography compositions, but this type of scagliola with maps was not only produced by Tuscan scagliola makers. Lorenzo Bonucelli, working in Turin from 1685 to 1707, produced a top depicting Turin during the siege in 1706 for Vittorio Amadeo II. Related tops with maps and playing cards (though not attributed) are at Wilton House in Wiltshire, Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, Villa Albani, Rome and Palazzo Piccolomini, Pienza.

A related monochrome scagliola table top depicting a map of the Americas signed by Gibertoni and dated 1699, sold in these Rooms, lot 14, 4th December 2007 (£36,500).

Carlo Gibertoni (Carpi 1635-1696):
There is a paucity of information on this maker although it is known that he was born in Carpi in 1635. He is often confused with the contemporaneous maker Carlo Francesco Gibertoni. The maker of this top, however, was probably influenced by the Emilian Fassi scagliola school, especially by Annibale Griffoni, who had an important role in disseminating the art of scagliola making in Tuscany. A document in the Archivio di Stato di Modena reveals that in 1686 and 1687 Gibertoni presented a petition to the Duke of Modena to re-enter into the state, as for 20 years he suffered banishment, after been accused of homicide (around 1666).