Tray with radiating decoration in hard stones, Rome circa 1820

Rich circular top in white marble inlaid with a band of "sea green" marble and 196 samples of marbles and hard stones, separated by shelves in black marble, with a central reserve in "cipolinno" marble.

Among the samples:

Marbles: Portor, peach blossom, grand antico, Medici breccia, Serravezza, Médous, Arzo, African, brocatelle from Spain, Cipolin from Greece, yellow from Siena, rose from Valence, red from Languedoc, levanto, incarnat turquin, turquin blue, sicilian diaspre, lumachelle, coraline breach…




Very good state of conservation.

Roman work around 1820, attributable to Frencesco Sibilio, director of the workshop of the factory of St Peter in the Vatican.

Dimensions: Diameter: 65 cm


Our opinion :

The tray we present was purchased during a so-called Grand Tour trip in the 1820s.
This trip was intended to perfect the education and raise the interests of the aristocratic youth, just after their studies, then essentially based on the Greek and Latin humanities. The destination was mainly Italy, although trips often started in the south of France and ended in Greece.
It was in good taste to bring back a very beautiful decorative object, to adorn one's future home, a replica of bronze or of an ancient monument, a collection of intaglios, or as is the case here a sample tray of hard stones.
These trays then returned to the various European countries and were mounted on pedestal tables by the greatest cabinetmakers or bronzers of the time.

The only workshops capable of bringing together such rare varieties were located in Rome, a city where all the most beautiful varieties of stone from the four corners of the empire converged for several centuries.
Among these workshops, the factory of St Pierre located in the Vatican specialized in the production of this type of tray.
Created in the 16th century, this organization of the Roman curia is responsible for the management and maintenance of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, it is in the 19th century the only workshop to be able to officially buy and use stones from excavations .
Within the organization, several lapidary and mosaic workshops work on the restoration of the basilica but also on the design of papal gifts or luxury goods intended for a wealthy clientele who have come to take the grand tour.