This magnificent sumptuously-carved table is typical of the skilled carving of Roman ébénistes in the second half of the 17^th century. The overall sculptural design, scale and bold carving of this table are typically Roman. Additionally, the use of gilded human figures or grotesque masks was common at that t.mes and more particularly on Roman console tables and cabinet stands. These figures, like the present grotesque mask gracefully intertwined with the acanthus leaves, are often very expressive.

Roman bold scrolls were influenced in the late 17^th century by promoters of the Baroque style such as the Roman ornamentalist Filippo Passarini (1638-1698) and his publication Nuove inventioni d’ornamenti d’architettura e d’intagli diversi: utili ad argentieri, intagliatori, ricamatori et altri professori delle buone arti del disegno (1698) as well as the Austrian designer working in Rome Johann Paul Schor (1615-1674). While the names of Roman intagliatori and doratori who worked in their style at the court of the King of Portugal at the beginning of the 18^th century are recorded (for example, Francesco Tibaldi), not the same can be said on those working in Rome, therefore no definite attribution can be made for this console table.

The carving of this table however points to a skilled maker and the table is closely related to other examples from the late 17^th century including one illustrated in Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, 1984, Vol. II, p. 71, fig. 129 and in the same book is illustrated a drawing for a similar table, p.213, fig. 491. Other related examples were sold at Christie’s, Milan, 11-12 June 2007, lot 333.

Grand Tours and Ickworth House, Suffolk

This table once stood in the entrance hall of Ickworth House, at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, the seat and home of the wealthy Hervey family (fig.1). Given the title of Marquess of Bristol from 1826, multiple generations of this family have expressed their passions and personalities in the house.

The history of the estate goes back to 1432 when Thomas Hervey acquired the land by marriage. Following damages across the years, the main house that we know of today was built between 1795 and 1829 to showcase the art treasures of the Hervey family. The vision for Ickworth House was laid out by Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol (1730-1803) known as the Earl Bishop who commissioned the Italian architect Antonio Asprucci. Ickworth was to be the home of his extensive collects ion and his wish was to create a gallery to enlighten and educate receptive minds. Members of the Hervey family including the 4th Earl of Bristol had spent their life travelling in Europe and ended up securing a vast collects ion of art and treasures. Many family members also completed Grand Tours with Rome being the highpoint.

The Grand Tour was a fashionable adventure for English aristocracy to travel across European and for example to acquaint themselves in Rome with ancient artefacts, to expose themselves to new aesthetics, to meet artists working in the genre, and to initiate commissions. To remember their visit, or just to be part of the fashion, the wealthy Grand Tourists often brough back souvenirs serving as symbols of their owner's worldliness and appreciation for ancient culture. It is very much possible the base of this table was acquired by one of the members of the Hervey family during a visit in Rome. John Hervey of Ickworth, first earl of Bristol (1665-1751) disliked travelling even as far as London but he invested £2,000 in a three-year Grand Tour (1711-1713) for his eldest son Carr Hervey (1691-1723). The next generation included Lord John Hervey (1696–1743), 2nd Baron Hervey of Ickworth who completed a Grand Tour in 1728-1729 and whose son George Hervey, 2^nd Earl of Bristol (1721–1775) took the tour in Rome, Florence (with Horace Walpole), Bologna, Reggio and Venice for his education. His brother Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol (1730-1803) undertook a total of six Grand Tours, spending the last eleven years of his life on the Continent where he died in 1803 at Albano near Rome. His collects ion was sold in Rome circa 1804 in which his son, the 5th Earl of Bristol bought back objects (Catalogue of Works of Art, including Paintings, Mosaics, Sculpture and Architectural belonging to the estate of the late Earl of Bristol exhibited for public in Rome, circa 1804).

Frederick Hervey, 5th Earl of Bristol and later 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769–1859), took over the building project of Ickworth on his father’s death in 1803 and eventually moved in with his family in 1829. He is the one largely responsible for the contents of Ickworth. The original concept of the 4^th Earl of Bristol of a magnificent central house with two wings as galleries was changed by his son who settled upon making the East Wing the family home and the central Rotunda as the gallery to impress visitors and also for grand entertaining. The classical Rotunda forms the centrepiece of Ickworth estate and it is home today to one of the finest silver collects ions, of family portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds, works by Titian and Velázquez, and Neoclassical sculpture including Flaxman’s ‘Fury of Athamus’ (fig.2).

The House was given to the National Trust in 1966 in lieu of death duties, together with the family’s greatest art treasures. The Rotunda became open to the public and while the family continued to live in the east wing, from 2002 it became a luxury hotel.