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Table Centerpiece

A work made of silver, silver gilt, mirror glass, and wood.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of silver, silver gilt, mirror glass, and wood.

Date:

c. 1750

Artist:

Italy, Turin

About this artwork

This silver and glass plateau is a rare survival of the festive table decorations that were so popular in the 18th century. It formed the visual climax of a formal dinner’s final course; dessert. Designed in the Rococo style, the centerpiece has a border of asymmetrical scrolls, waves, and flower clusters, further enlivened by alternating reflective and matte surfaces. Decorative arrangements of sugar-paste or porcelain figures were placed on the mirrored surfaces of the plateau to entertain dinner guests, and it would have been surrounded by candles that would have shed light on the elaborate arrangement. This plateau was made in Turin, Italy, but the practice of decorating aristocratic tables with miniature gardens, and even scenes from contemporary plays and operas, extended throughout Europe.

The centerpiece is composed of three sections, so users had the option of shortening it for more intimate gatherings by removing the center section. Affixed to the sides are two symmetrically shaped cartouches, or ornamental panels, each surmounted by a crown and supported by a pair of lions. Since no coats of arms appear to have been engraved within the cartouches, it isn’t possible to determine for whom the centerpiece was originally made.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Title

Table Centerpiece

Place

Turin (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1745–1755

Medium

Silver, silver gilt, mirror glass, and wood

Dimensions

15.6 × 137.8 × 66.7 cm (6 1/8 × 54 1/4 × 26 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Antiquarian Society

Reference Number

2001.112

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/157024/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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