NINETEENTH-CENTURY CARVED GILTWOOD AND PAINTED ADAM STYLE PIER TABLE

the auspicious painted demi lune shaped top, above a fluted frieze, decorated with paterae motifs, raised on anthemion leaf decorated columnar legs

Dimensions: 93 cm. high; 156 cm. wide; 66.5 cm. deep

After a design by Robert Adam, 1728-1792.This example is similar to a table designed by Robert Adam for the saloon at Nostell Priory, a Palladian house, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. The tabletop is decorated with auspicious painted symbols, possibly derived from Baron Pierre Hughes d’Hancarville’s Cabinet of the Hon. W. Hamilton. The harmonious use of urns, anthemion sprays and acanthus leaf swags, all emanating from a ray of ostrich feathers is engaging.

The ostrich feather is symbolic of the law, truth, balance, order, harmony, and of morality. The goddess Themis was often depicted as carrying a sword while wearing an ostrich feather in her hair to symbolise truth and justice. The Egyptians knew Themis as Ma’at: the term ‘magistrate’ is derived from this ancient source.

Tables similar to the model discussed here were thought to have been in the collection of the Dukes of Leinster. These were characterised by scagliola marble tops attributed to Pietro Bossi, who was active in Dublin from 1785 to 1798. Bossi is especially famous for his chimneypieces.