Vintage French giltwood and marble top coffee table Limoges plaques 20th C

This is an exquisite French giltwood and marble top coffee table with Limoges plaques, circa 1950 in date.

Condition:

In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Violet Breche marble
is extracted from the town of Serravezza, near to the Carrara region in Italy. It is a very heterogeneous marble made up of hues going from white to dark violet, whilst passing through shades of pink, all combined together with a violet coloured cement.  

In his Dictionary of Business and Industry, Blanqui describes Violet Breche. “This marble that is frequently used on the most beautiful churches in Italy, and is found on several tables and columns in the galleries of the Louvre Museum, offers an elegant detail to monumental architecture. The quarries that produce it are several miles from Serravezza, and are found in the commune of Stazzema. When the fragments which make up Violet Breche are large, in other words, when the lilacs, pinks, and whites, are prominent, it can only be used for monumental architecture, but when the colours are less prominent and equally spread across the whole surface of the marble, it can be used to make fireplaces and luxurious furniture.”

Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741 - 1807)

was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.

While Kauffman produced many types of art, she identified herself primarily as a history painter, an unusual designation for a woman artist in the 18th century. History painting, was considered the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during this time period. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Royal Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes.

Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, held in higher esteem and patronized.

The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait. There were other pictures by her at Paris, at Dresden, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, in the Alte Pinakothek atMunich, in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn (Estonia).

Satinwood

is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.

The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.

It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.