A Rare Walnut Inlaid Renaissance Revival Center Table with Dramatic Wolf Heads, c.1870

Announcement!  This item will be available at auction from Neal Auction Company on January 26th, 2019.  Preview exhibition is currently underway.  Click here to see our listings at nealauction.com.

This monumental center table is grand in scale and is elaborately inlaid both on its top and fully around its apron. What sets this table apart from all others we have seen are the fabulous Wolf heads. The oxidation is magnificent on these, as it is on the rest of the piece, as craquelature is still evident under a fine French polishing. This table is the best in its category, retaining its original urn between stretchers, et al. The inlay is in absolutely perfect condition, and the quality of the work is clearly visible throughout. This table is ebonized and gilt incised throughout including an elaborate urn finial.

To see the grandeur of this piece, one should note a related inlaid center table to see a greatly inferior example--which is standard for the form--and judge for yourself (see the example shown below, from Victorian Furniture, by David Lindquist) . This table is one of the best of the and a cornerstone to any collection. While we can't put a Herter Brothers, New York attribution on this piece, it clearly was made by either them or a contemporary of equal rank.
 
Height: 30 in. Width: 47 in. Depth: 31 in.

sw00554 - SOLD