In mid-16th century Renaissance Italy, the production of panels and tabletops using inlays of semiprecious stone began, with materials and geometric designs deriving from classical Roman motifs.

Of ebony, silver inlay, mounted with Tulyakov jasper, lapis lazuli, agate, amber, striated green glass and with silver inlay. Each in the form of a tapering obelisk, panelled to the front and inlaid with shaped hardstones, raised on four ball feet above a rectangular plinth panelled to the front and set with shaped stones above a molded edge set on a plain frieze with inlaid stone to the front, above a plain plinth base.

The present pair of oval paintings represent the mythological figures of Hercules and Cronos. The composition of the paintings is closely related to the forms of antique sculpture, here given greater animation and a baroque sense of drama. Hercules is shown at the height of his powers with a massive, bulky presence and the closely trimmed beard of a young man. He is often depicted in a similar pose, astride the Nemean lion, whose slaying was the first of his twelve labors. The second painting depicts Cronos or Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture who, in his Greek manifestation, features in the myth of creation and came to be associated with Time. He is always shown as an aged man, with a long beard and without the strident virility of the younger Hercules. As the deity of agriculture and of time, he rests on a scythe with a snake consuming itself, an ancient symbol of eternity, hanging from the withered branch on which he leans.

Oil on canvas. The painting set in a molded frame.

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1662.

Of walnut ebony and bone. The octagonal top with raised rim inlaid with eight-pointed star of ebony and bone, the pierced barley twist stem centred with a turned coller, the stem set on a polygonal base with moulded rim raised on three ebonised bun feet. In his book English Furniture 1660-1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne, Adam Bowett illustrates a candlestand of strikingly similar form to the present examples, pointing out the rarity of the pierced double-bind turning. The close similarity of the pieces is not limited to the form and construction of the stem, but also extends to the shaped and inlaid base raised on bun feet and the tray to the top.

Scagliola originated in Bavaria, and was kept secret until the mid-17th century. Around 1600 Blasius Fistulator and his son Wilhelm decorated the Reich Kapelle for Maximillian I: Wilhelm did a series of scagliola scenes from the life of Mary, including four landscapes, based on engravings by Albrecht Dürer. This tabletop's Rhineland hunting scene would have come from a contemporary painting or engraving by a Dutch or Flemish master such as Aelbert Cuyp, who traveled along the Rhine in the early 1650s. Maximillian I’s grandson, Max Emmanuel, moved some of Fistulator’s scagliola panels, reinstalling them circa 1725 in the Kammerkapelle. Johann Baptiste Zimmermann decorated the ceiling with stucco motifs that reappear in the frieze of this table's base, which appears to date from around 1725. It is possible that the top existed first as a panel on a wall: possibly one of the ones moved in 1725 by Max Emmanuel.

The Mughal term "parchin kari" translates literally to "driven-in", and this technique of pietre dure inlay developed independently in India, at the court of Shah Jahan, the 17th-century Mughal emperor. At this time, architecture was evolving from grounds of red sandstone to white marble, and from relief carving to inlay with semiprecious stones in floral and arabesque motifs. The most famous Mughal building to feature parchin kari is the Taj Mahal, built between 1632 and 1653 by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The parchi kari of the Taj Mahal employs the same angular and curvilinear lines as the design of this tabletop, and is embellished with similar three- and five-petaled flowers, buds, and leaves. The base of this table was constructed specifically for these precious inlaid panels in the manner of Richard Bridgens, the 19th-century English architect and designer, who furnished residences such as Abbotsford House, home of Sir Walter Scott.

During the Renaissance, panels and tabletops inlaid with semiprecious stone began to be produced in Italy, with materials and geometric designs derived from classical Roman motifs. The present tabletop, which was probably made in Rome around 1680, represents a complete departure from this tradition, since its design is an imitation in mosaic of ancient marble, possibly Egyptian alabaster or giallo antico. We know of no comparable example, and so believe this top to be probably unique. Egyptian alabaster, which can appear with a combination of opaque milky sections and yellow-orange-brown fibrous layers, was one of the stones most highly prized by ancient Romans, and was used in making many ritual objects. The ebonized base, which was made for the top in the 19th century, is reminiscent of mid-17th century designs for drawer-leaf tables found in the Netherlands and Sweden.

The present tabletop's inlaid design of colorful birds, flowers and branches with fruit comes from the distinct style of mosaic found in Florence from the 17th century well into the 19th century. While the base has many elements that point to English Regency design, such as the fine brass inlay on a contrasting ebonized ground, the zoomorphic feet, and the outsplaying trestle-ends, there are many constructional features that suggest an Italian origin. It is possible therefore to speculate on the English cabinetmaker Henry Thomas Peters as its author: Peters lived and worked in Genoa in the first part of the 19th century, and supplied furniture for King Carlo Alberto.