Object Description
A Pair of Rococo Style Giltwood Gueridons, with Pietre Dure Marble Tops.
Italian, Circa 1880.
The technique of pietre dure is typical of Florence, where it was developed at the end of the Sixteenth Century and is still in use today. Referred to as opeficie in Italian, hard and semi-precious stones are cut with great precision into thin sheets and fitted together so as to be almost invisibly joined. The natural colouring in the stones is used to gain effects of perspective, pattern and shade, in order to create an image like a painting. Several examples of the technique are preserved in the Gilbert Collection of Mosaics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.