Burton Constable Tables by Raffaelli and Leonardi

Acquisition of a magnificant pair of centre tables, supreme examples of the final phase of Grand Tour collecting. They were acquired in Rome by Sir Clifford Constable (1806-1889) almost certainly on his honeymoon in 1827, for the Long Gallery at Burton Constable. The tables consist of two solid slabs of marble, inlid with 150 specimens of marble, by Gioacomo Raffaelli. The tops are supported by single-footed winged sphinxes which were carved in soild wood by Guiuseppe Leonardi, on a basr, and all gilded in two colours of gold.