$35,670
Victorian Carrara Marble Lion Garden Table, late 19th century, alabaster top on two marble pedestal supports with heavily carved winged lions front and back, supporting the marble bevel-edged tabletop, ht. 36, lg. 76, dp. 40 in. N.B. Originally owned by Giraud Foster, of the 35 plus room Berkshire estate Bellefontaine, built in 1897 in Lenox, Massachusetts, as an American country house copy of Petit Trianon, by New York architectural firm Carrere and Hastings. The table was photographed in 1900 as situated between marble Corinthian columns in a hall at Bellefontaine leading to the gardens and its 180 acres. The table was likely designed specifically for the space and sold through a European dealer. Probable models for the design of the table are classical in origin; an excavation of a room at Pompeii in 1896 revealed a similar style table, and a lion carved by Canova guarding the tomb to Clement XIII at St. Peter's in Rome is similar in profile. The table was then auctioned by Tobias, Fischer & Co., Inc., at a four-day sale in July 1946 of the entire estate and its contents. Bellefontaine was sold to the Fathers of Mercy in 1946, its interior destroyed by fire in 1949, and was rebuilt by the new owners, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary. Today the property is owned by the Canyon Ranch spa.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2015-07-18
