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An Italian Micromosaic Table Top, Second Quarter 19th Century. With central rectangular panel depicting hounds attacking a boar, surrounded by trophies, bucrania, and rosettes joined with ribbon on a blue ground, the outer band of griffins, urns and rinceaux on a white ground, on a modern, Neoclassical style gilt-bronze base. ¡Micromosaics¡ is a term coined by the collector Sir Arthur Gilbert to describe a type of mosaic composed of very small pieces called tesserae, adapted from the ancient art of larger stone mosaics. It is believed to have originated at the Vatican workshops in the late 18th century, though many of the advances in technique are credited to artisans working privately. Giocomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) held the first public exhibition of micromosaics in Rome in 1775. The individual tesserae used in micromosaics are not stone or glass but smalti, an opaque glass-like substance that differs in chemical composition from glass but is still generally referred to as glass in English translation; some scholars prefer the term enamel. Chips of smalti are heated in a furnace until molten at which point they are pulled into long thin strands known as filati, which are then cut into pieces. The pieces are less reflective than glass, and available in a very wide range of colors. By the end of the 18th century, the Vatican workshop boasted over 28,000 different tints. By 1810, there were over 20 private workshops producing for the growing demand, mainly of Grande Tourists. Works depicting scenes and symbols from ancient Rome were popular souvenirs. In the early 19th century, the type of images produced expanded to include scenes from nature. As the century progressed, the two most common subjects were ancient Roman monuments and St. Peter¡s Square. As the tourist market expanded to include the growing middle class, the continuing demand for micromosaics resulted in the partial industrialization of the art. Not surprisingly, this brought out a decrease in quality, though fine examples from this period are not uncommon. See Bertelli, Carlo, ed., Mosaics, 1988, p.238 and Gabriel, Jeanette Hanisee, The Gilbert Collection: Micromosaics, 2000, p. 66-67, 284-285. Provenance: Collection of Gianni Versace
Dimensions: Height 28 «, Diameter 31
Condition: Very Good