A pair of specimen marble topped composition and giltwood console tables the tops Italian, early 19th century, the gilt frames and supports probably assembled from 18th and 19th century elements

the rectangular specimen marble tops inlaid with a diaper trellis pattern of exotic marbles outlined with black marble bands within verde antico and giallo antico moulded borders, the egg and dart and reel moulded friezes supported by standing Atlas figures, the aprons festooned with seashells above faux marble rectangular plinths

Probably acquired by Sir William Fowle Middleton, 2nd Bt., for Shrubland Park, Suffolk.

Shrubland 1860 Inventory, p.54, "inlaid marble side table supported by gilt frame with carved figures and ornaments on wood base.  Top 6 feet by 3 feet."

The specimen marble tops are examples of the revived interest in classical antiquity which gained momentum in England during the neoclassical period and continued into the 19th century. The influx of wealthy foreign visitors to Italy on their Grand Tour led to a consuming passion for archaeological marbles, then still much found in Rome. Roman marmetisti, such as Antonio Minelli, are recorded as having worked with up to 170 specimens of marble. Indeed Rome continued to be the centre for specimen marble table top production well into the 19th century, although, Florence, Naples, Buen Retiro in Spain and even England produced related examples (See A.M. Giusti, Pietre Dure, London, 1992. p. 33). A table with a similarly inlaid specimen marble top is recorded in the Villa Borghese, Rome (see A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Gusto dei Principi, Milan, 1993, vol. II, p. 240, fig. 479)

The Atlas figures on the present tables are a representation of the celebrated Greek mythological figure who was condemned to support the heavens on his head as a punishment for his part in the revolt of the Titans against Zeus. His name is further immortalised in mythology through his transformation into the eponymous mountain range as a consequence of his exposure to the Medusa's head by the aggrieved Perseus.

Although the direct design source for the present Atlas figures is not known, there are many examples of related caryatid or term figures in Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture which became increasingly three dimensional and decorative towards the end of the 17th century. This is also reflected in the decorative arts up until the 19th century where such figures were combined as structural and sculptural elements for furniture, typified by the supports for Roman console tables and torchere stands.  An early 19th century  Roman circular granite-topped giltwood table in Galleria Corsini, Rome which has similar Atlas figural supports is illustrated in Enrico Colle, Il Mobile Impero In Italia, Arredi, E Decorazioni D'Interni Dal 1800 Al 1843, Milan, 1998, p. 81, pl. 19.  Another table with comparable supports is in the museum of Palazzo Venezia. These are thought to have been inspired by the antique sculptures known as the `Atlante of the Villa Albani'.  Similar figures were used by the sculptor Bartolomeo Canini on a table he presented at the 1862 International exhibition, London (see Colle, op. cit., p. 80). A 19th century bronze figure of Atlas supporting a 16th century globe by Giuseppe de Rossi, formerly in the collects ion of Nicolas Landau is recorded in the Louvre Museum, Paris. A further early 17th century full size bronze and stone statue is incorporated in a fountain at the Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati, Italy.