An Italian specimen pietre dure and marble table top, circa 1805, attributed to Giacomo Raffaelli

Property of a European Collector

An Italian specimen pietre dure and marble table top, circa 1805, attributed to Giacomo Raffaelli

This circular ‘gallery of stones’ displays a singularly ambitious ornamental scheme, including one hundred and forty-eight specimens cut in quadrangular, oval, circular and triangular sections harmoniously arranged in concentric bands around a radiating star motif in a sequence based on the number twenty-four and its multiples. 

The innermost row of twenty-four samples including jasper, alabaster, malachite, granite, chalcedony and petrified wood is distributed around a central medallion of amethyst, outlined by a band of lapis lazuli composed of eight sections.

This is followed by a double series of isosceles triangles of labradorite, arranged in a circle, with twenty-four circular plaques of labradorite at the vertices.

The next sequence of samples consists of forty-eight sections of various stones including granito bigio, Imperial Egyptian porphyry, Sicilian jaspers, breccia di Roma, porfido verde serpentino antico, Aushkul jasper, agate, and this is followed by an inlaid band with twenty-four quadrangular labradorite plaques arranged in a diamond pattern.

The third row of samples includes seventy-two specimens including Sicilian jaspers, chalcedony, alabastro a occhi, breccia africana.

The outer border of lapis lazuli is composed in oval sections alternating with smaller double almond-shaped motifs comprising seventy-two elements.

These rich and diverse specimens are set into a Carrara statuary marble panel, raised on its original wooden base.

119cm. diameter, 80cm. high; 3ft. 10¾in., 2ft. 7½in.