{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O157684"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O157684/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PL7527/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PL7527/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PL7527","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6209","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7528","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7533","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7535","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7534","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7532","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7531","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7530","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PL7529","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O157684/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O157684","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.180:1, 2-2008","objectType":"Table","titles":[{"title":"Micromosaic table with lion hunt","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"The Gilberts visited the Vatican Mosaic Workshop many times to learn about the craft of micromosaics. They acquired this tabletop in 1969, allegedly receiving it as a gift from the Vatican in return for a donation. The central image is based on <i>The Lion Hunt</i>, a painting from 1836 by French artist Horace Vernet, who had travelled in Algeria and the Middle East.\r\n\r\nRosalinde and Arthur Gilbert formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. The Gilbert Collection has been in the care of the V&amp;A since 2008. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Round black marble table with a micromosaic depiction of three Arabs on horseback attacking a lioness with spears. This scene is surrounded by a floral wreath. The table has a gilt bronze pedestal base.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"mosaic glass","id":"AAT260731"},{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"},{"text":"gilt bronze","id":"x35084"}],"techniques":[{"text":"micromosaic","id":"x42499"},{"text":"setting","id":"x42734"},{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"},{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Micromosaic, marble and gilt bronze","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2026PL7527","2009CC6209","2026PL7528","2026PL7533","2026PL7535","2026PL7534","2026PL7532","2026PL7531","2026PL7530","2026PL7529"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES344279"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"70B","id":"THES413996"},"free":"","case":"WW","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"base","id":""}],[{"text":"tabletop","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Rome","id":"x29106"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1850-1875","earliest":"1850-01-01","latest":"1875-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on Loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"91.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured 24/05/24 IW","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Provenance: Studio del Mosaico, Vatican. The Gilberts acquired this tabletop in 1969 from the Vatican, where it had been in the possession of one of the cardinals.\n\nHistorical significance: A reverse image after <i>The Lion Hunt</i>, a painting by Horace Vernet (1789-1863) in the Wallace Collection, London. Vernet was the Director of the French Academy in Rome. He had travelled in Algeria and the Middle East and his work demonstrates the contemporary fashion of Orientalism. This was based on an imaginary and romanticised view of the Islamic world and was adapted to suit a wide range of decorative arts in the late 19th century.\n\nMicromosaics have their roots in the larger mosaics of ancient Rome used to decorate their walls and floors. The first micromosaics were created in the 18th century, but it was not until Arthur Gilbert himself became interested in collecting them and invented the term 'micromosaics' that they became known as such. The tesserae are minute pieces cut from thin pieces of glass known as smalti filati, and some of the finest micromosaics can consist of as many as 1500 tesserae per square centimetre. By the late 18th century Rome had become central to the production of micromosaics and sold them as souvenirs to wealthy foreigners visiting the city. From small elegant snuffboxes to large monumental tabletops, micromosaics could be used to decorate objects of all shapes and sizes. They could even be made to resemble full-sized canvas paintings, and indeed Arthur Gilbert himself mistook his very first micromosaic for a painting. When he brought it home to show his wife, he had to convince her that it was not in fact a cracked painting, as she supposed, but a mosaic.\r\n\n","historicalContext":"When Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert were first shown this table they were told that it was intended as a gift from one of the Vatican hierarchy to the Pope and that it was not for sale.  Not to be defeated, the Gilberts wrote to the Vatican explaining that they intended to make a large donation to the church, after which they received the table as a gift.","briefDescription":"Micromosaic table with 'The Lion Hunt', Rome, ca.1850-1875.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sherman, Anthony C. <u>The Gilbert Mosaic Collection</u>. Edited by M. Barbara Scheibel. West Haven, Connecticut: Pendulum Press, 1971, pp. 44-45, pl. XXI."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gabriel, Jeanette Hanisee with contributions by Anna Maria Massinelli and essays by Judy Rudoe and Massimo Alfieri. <u>Micromosaics: The Gilbert Collection</u>. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000. 310 p., ill. Cat. no. 75, pp. 137-138. ISBN 0856675113."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar and Steffi Röttgen with essays by Steffi Röttgen, Claudia Przyborowski; essays and new catalogue material translated by Alla Theodora Hall. <u>The Art of Mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection</u>. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1982. 224 p., ill. Cat. no. 97. ISBN 0875871097"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Lion","id":"x30150"},{"text":"Floral","id":"AAT10135"},{"text":"horses (animals)","id":"x34864"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Hunting","id":"x40186"},{"text":"Orientalism","id":"AAT55784"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Tabletop with scene based on The Lion Hunt\r\n1850-75\r\n\r\nRome, Italy; Vatican Mosaic Workshop, after a painting by Horace Vernet, 1836, now in the Wallace Collction, London\r\nMarble and glass micromosaic\r\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.180-2008","date":{"text":"2024","earliest":"2024-01-01","latest":"2024-12-31"}},{"text":"Tabletop with Arabs hunting\r\n1850-75\r\n\r\nThe East was a popular subject in 19th-century European art. The central image of three Arabs hunting is based on The Lion Hunt, a painting of 1836 by the French artist Horace Vernet, who had travelled in Algeria and the Middle East. Originally made for Pope Pius IX, this tabletop was eventually acquired by the Gilberts from the Vatican in 1969.\r\n\r\nRome, Italy; Vatican Mosaic Workshop\r\nMarble and glass micromosaic\r\nMuseum no. Loan: Gilbert. 180:1-2008","date":{"text":"2009","earliest":"2009-01-01","latest":"2009-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.180:2-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.180:1-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"180","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"MM 31"},{"type":{"text":"LACMA","id":"THES57415"},"number":"m.75.135.13"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","base","tabletop"],"assets":["2025PC5588","2019MF2626"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-18","recordCreationDate":"2008-06-26","availableToBook":false}}