On the walls of the next two rooms, you can see twenty tabletops in Florentine commesso mosaic realized between 1864 and 1885, mostly with floral decorations upon a black background.
Tabletop with a garland of magnolias and bindweeds
This tabletop was completed in 1881. Put up for sale at the price of 18.500 lire, it remained unsold despite its extraordinary beauty and elegance.
The wreath of magnolias and bindweeds emerges from the black marble background: the petals of the magnolias are made with pearly Sabine agate, whilst the bindweed petals are made with lapislazzuli and chalcedonies. Bohemian, Sicilian and Arno jaspers render the different green shades of the leaves.
The vivid polychromy of the floral repertoire of the workshop was abandoned in favor of more delicate shades inspired by Japanese art. This tabletop seems to anticipate the naturalism of the future Liberty or Art Nouveau style.
Tabletop with doves and decorations
This tabletop was made with black Belgian marble. In the center there is an emblem of love with two doves upon a quiver, bow, arrow and olive branches. Surrounding the emblem is a frieze with floral motifs and birds made with chalcedony.
This theme, typical of the neo-classical decorative repertoire, is related to the historical tendency of the second half of the nineteenth century, which promoted the rediscovery and revival of decorative traditions of the past, whilst introducing innovative elements too. In this artwork, for example, colored crystals are inserted within chalcedony, in the thin string of pearls around the edge of the table.
This innovation was to be repeated in other artefacts made by the workshop and it was probably adapted to the taste of the customers, who appreciated the seemingly precious colored pieces of glass, alongside the elegant chalcedony hemispheres forming the string of pearls.
