Chess Table in Gilt Bronze and Marble Marquetry Florence Circa 1880

This circular guéridon features a tabletop inlaid with colored marble marquetry forming a central chessboard, encircled by a radiating border of polychrome marbles (green marbles, Siena yellow, breccias, and veined white marble), the whole set within a finely gadrooned gilt bronze rim. The top rests on a tripod shaft with goat-head legs, each holding a loose ring in its mouth, joined by two chased circular stretchers, the whole terminating in doe-hoof feet set on a star-shaped tripod base.

This type of guéridon, produced in the taste of commesso fiorentino inherited from the Tuscan grand-ducal workshops, carried into the 19th century a centuries-old tradition of hardstone and marble marquetry, particularly favored in Florence, where it enjoyed renewed success thanks to Grand Tour travelers and, later, a European clientele drawn to refined decorative objects. The gilt bronze mounts, with their goat-head legs and doe-hoof feet, draw on the neoclassical repertoire revisited in the Louis XVI taste, then highly fashionable in both Italy and France during the second half of the 19th century. The chessboard top, intended for game rooms, reflects the period's taste for furniture that was both precious and functional.

Technique:
Chased and gadrooned gilt bronze for the rim, legs, and stretchers. Tabletop in colored marble and breccia marquetry, forming a central checkerboard encircled by a radiating border.

Dimensions:
Height: 27 3/16 in (69 cm)
Diameter: 23 1/4 in (59 cm)

Condition:
Bears restorations. Good overall condition given the age and use of the piece.

Provenance:
Private collection, Belgium.