{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1758705"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1758705/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NW2637/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NW2637/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NW2637","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2636","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2639","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2640","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2655","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2654","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2653","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2652","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2651","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2650","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2649","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2648","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2647","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2646","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2645","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2644","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2643","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2642","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2641","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2638","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2635","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2634","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NW2633","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2023NN8138","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1758705/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1758705","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.1-2023","objectType":"Table (tabletop and stand)","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This circular tabletop, of the type known in the nineteenth century as a 'gallery of stones', contains one hundred and forty-eight stone specimens including jasper, agate, porphyry, lapis lazuli, and labradorite. The table rests on a veneered wooden base. Decorative tabletops that included inlaid stone specimens and in particular, samples of ancient marbles, were made as exceptional souvenirs for visitors touring Italy from the eighteenth century. ","physicalDescription":"A circular table top of hardstone and marble specimens, set on a wooden base or stand.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Raffaelli","id":"A22473"},"association":{"text":"Mosaicist","id":"AAT25276"},"note":"The maker of this table, Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) is best known for his skilful micromosaics made in the 18th and 19th centuries in Italy. In this tabletop he demonstrates that he was equally talented as a lapidary artist and an innovative entrepreneur. He includes iridescent labradorite newly imported from Siberia as the primary stone. Raffaelli started using labradorite in his stone inlay productions from the early nineteenth century, as he seems to have been in a unique position to buy a large quantity of the rare mineral with his contacts in the Russian royal court. The greyish opaque stone's shimmering green-blue properties when skilfully cut and polished add novelty to the traditional specimen table typology contrasting with the block colours of the other specimens. The geometric shapes used in Raffaelli's inlay also enhance the colour and patterns of the stones. Sources indicate that Raffaelli would lay his stones on pieces of paper to test out different striking layouts for inlay designs. \r\n\r\nRaffaelli had a passion for stones and over the years accumulated his own extensive collection of traditional ancient Roman marbles and Egyptian porphyries as well as Sicilian jaspers and semi-precious stones like malachite, amethyst (in 1821 he had over 2000 specimens). He traded with a network of suppliers across Europe in the highest quality Sicilian jaspers and lapis lazuli as well as agates and chalcedonies from Germanic regions. Many of these types of stones can be seen in the tabletop.\r\n\r\nOther types of objects by this exceptional craftsperson and entrepreneur in the Gilbert Collection show Raffaelli's refined use of decorative stone, including a clock with labradorite (Loan:Gilbert.4-2008) and pair of vases with hardstones and micromosaic panels set into white marble (Loan:Gilbert.110 & 111-2008)."}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"materials":[{"text":"hardstone","id":"x37572"},{"text":"lapis lazuli","id":"AAT11122"},{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"},{"text":"labradorite","id":"x36084"},{"text":"carrara marble","id":"AAT11576"},{"text":"amethyst","id":"AAT11133"},{"text":"agate","id":"AAT11135"},{"text":"jasper","id":"AAT11151"},{"text":"porphyry","id":"AAT11232"},{"text":"serpentine","id":"AAT11627"},{"text":"","id":""}],"techniques":[{"text":"inlay","id":"AAT53850"},{"text":"mosaic","id":"AAT138684"},{"text":"","id":""}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Tabletop of white Carrara statuary marble inlaid with 148 stone specimens of hardstones (pietre dure) and marble cut in quadrangular, oval, circular and triangular sections, arranged in concentric bands around a radiating star motif. The innermost row: 24 stone samples distributed around a central medallion of purple amethyst, outlined by a band of blue lapis lazuli composed of 8 sections. Double series of triangles arranged in a circle with circular plaques: labradorite. Sequence of concentric stone samples consisting of 48 sections of various stones: including porphyry, granite, jasper and agate. Inlaid band of 24 quadrangular plaques arranged in a diamond pattern: labradorite. Third row of samples including 72 stone specimens. Outer border composed in oval sections alternating with smaller double almond-shaped motifs comprising seventy-two elements: lapis lazuli. Tabletop on original wooden base.","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2024NW2637","2024NW2636","2024NW2639","2024NW2640","2024NW2655","2024NW2654","2024NW2653","2024NW2652","2024NW2651","2024NW2650","2024NW2649","2024NW2648","2024NW2647","2024NW2646","2024NW2645","2024NW2644","2024NW2643","2024NW2642","2024NW2641","2024NW2638","2024NW2635","2024NW2634","2024NW2633","2023NN8138"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"70","id":"THES49725"},"free":"","case":"WW","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341880"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Table","id":"x31811"}],[{"text":"Table","id":"x31811"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Milan","id":"x29007"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"Probably made by Raffaelli Workshop in San Vincenzino, Milan"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1805","earliest":"1805-01-01","latest":"1805-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"119.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"80","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Tabletop on stand","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"4.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Tabletop","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"12.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Tabletop on stand","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured 12/01/24 IW ","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe mineral 'Labradorite' that is used extensively in this tabletop was rediscovered in Canada in 1770 by Moravian missionaries. It began to be included in scientific minerology collections in Europe shortly after. The stone shimmers in the light displaying shades of blue and green with a pearlescent or metallic effect. These properties meant that it was highly prized in Europe from the late eighteenth-century onwards for use in luxurious decorative furniture and jewellery.\r\n\r\nObject Provenance History:\n\r\nWith Hansord of Lincoln at the 2009 Grosvenor House Fair, where acquired by the present owner.\r\nA private collection in Nottinghamshire, by family tradition bought at one of the ‘Dukeries’ sales in the mid-20th century.\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"An Italian specimen hardstone and marble table top, attributed to Giacomo Raffaelli, circa 1805, and wood stand","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Anna Maria Massinelli, with contributions of M. Alfieri, L. Biancini, E. Yakovleva, G. Tassinari, <i>Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836), Maestro di stile e di mosaico</i>, Florence, 2018, p. 294, no. 350."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Anna Maria Massinelli, 'Giacomo Raffaelli: Re-inventing Specimen Tops', Catalogue essay, Sotheby's, Treasures: London, 5 July 2023, pp.180-6."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sotheby's, Treasures: London, 5 July 2023, Lot 36, p.180."}],"production":"\r\nThe following list of stones corresponds with the numbered image of the tabletop (as identified by Sotheby's London, July 2023): \r\n\r\n1-Lapis lazuli from Russia; 2-Labradorite; 3-Lapis lazuli 'from Persia'; 4- Amethyst; 5-Agate; 6-Sicilian Jasper; 7-Russian porphyry; 8-Lapis lazuli; 9-Pink chalcedony; 10-Russian stone?; 11- Aushkul jasper; 12-Russian green jasper; 13-Alabaster; 14- Lapis lazuli; 15-Egyptian Alabaster; 16-Black granite; 17-Quartz; 18- malachite; 19-jasper; 20-chalcedony; 21-Red jasper; 22-jasper?; 23-Sicilian jasper; 24-?; 25-Petrified wood; 26- Chalcedony; 27- Red Sicilian jasper; 28-yellow Jasper; 29- Granito bigio; 30- Granito delle Alpi; 31- Alabastro a tartaruga; 32 ?Breccia gialla; 33- Granite; 34-Granito sardo; 35-Porfido serpentino antico; 36-Granito rosso antico minute; 37-Granito della Sedia di San Pietro; 38-Imperial Egyptian porphyry; 39-Porfido serpentino antico; 40- Barga jasper; 41-Lapis lazuli; 42- Sicilian jasper; 43- Serpentina di Corsica; 44- Granito della Sedia di San Pietro; 45-Sicilian jasper; 46-?; 47-Breccia di Roma; 48-Quartz; 49- Russian porphyry; 50-?; 51- verde plasma di Corsica; 52- Rosso antico; 53-Egyptian granite; 54-Breccia verde d'Egitto; 55- Alabaster? (Corsi 296 or 300); 56- Imperial Egyptian porphyry; 57-Porfido verde serpentino antico; 58-Lava di Borghetto?; 59-Sicilian jasper; 60-Granito della Colonna; 61- Egyptian alabastro; 62- Verde plasma di Corsica; 63-Aushkul jasper; 64-Granite; 65-Sicilian jasper; 66-Porfido delle Alpi; 67-Sicilian jasper; 68-Granite; 69-Agate; 70- porfido verde egiziano; 71- Swedish R?d porphyry; 72-granito antico; 73- Black porphyry serpentine?; 74- Granito rosso antico; 75-Granite; 76- Sicilian jasper; 77-Sicilian jasper; 78-Sicilian jasper; 79- Sicilian jasper; 80?; 81-Jasper; 82-Chalcedony; 83-jasper; 84?; 85-jasper; 86-jasper (Russian or Bohemian); 87-Sicilian jasper; 88-jasper (Russian?); 89-jasper; 90-Red jasper; 91-jasper; 92-jasper; 93-jasper; 94-jasper; 95-jasper; 96-jasper; 97-jasper; 98-chalcedony; 99-jasper; 100-jasper; 101-jasper; 102-jasper; 103-jasper; 104-jasper; 105-alabastro a occhi; 106-jasper; 107-jasper; 108-jasper; 109-?; 110-jasper; 111-chalcedony; 112-jasper; 113-jasper; 114?; 115-Chalcedony; 116-jasper; 117-chalcedony; 118-jasper; 119-?; 120-jasper; 121-jasper; 122-Sicilian jasper; 123-breccia Africana; 124-alabastro; 125-jasper; 126-?; 127-Sicilian jasper; 128-jasper; 129?; 130-jasper; 131-?; 132-jasper; 133-petrified wood?; 134-jasper; 135-jasper; 136?; 137-jasper; 138-jasper; 139-jasper; 140-?; 141-?; 142-?; 143-jasper; 144-jasper; 145-jasper; 146?; 147-jasper; 148-jasper; 149 - white statuary marble\n\r\n\n","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"","id":""}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[{"text":"","id":""}],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Giacomo Raffaelli is best known for his micromosaics, but he was also a talented lapidary artist. For this table, he arranged 148 different stone specimens into harmonious geometric designs. Raffaelli often combined his love of minerals with micromosaics in his works, as seen in the Vases with Griffins and Triumphal Arch Clock displayed in the nearby case.\r\n \r\nRome, Italy; Giacomo Raffaelli (1753–1836)\r\nTabletop: hardstones (including jaspers, agate, porphyry, lapis lazuli and labradorite) and marbles set into Carrara marble; base: wood\r\n","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.1:1-2023","LOAN:GILBERT.1:2-2023"],"accessionNumberNum":"1","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2023,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2023-07-11","availableToBook":false}}