Work table
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1810
Materials
Paint, decoupage, shell, enamel, marble, mineral, mosaic, japanning
Measurements
70 x 50 x 44 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
A La Ronde, Devon
NT 1312249
Summary
A painted and decorated octagonal work table, English, circa 1810. The hinged top inlaid with a panorama of intaglio seals, shells, micro-mosaic brooches and specimen marbles, arranged symmetrically, also with an enamelled miniature 'LIFE SHALL TRIUMPH OVER DEATH' to the centre, the underside of the lid decorated with decoupage images of Swiss peasants and the eruption of Vesuvius in 1794, the sides decorated with floral decoupage, on a japanned baluster column and concave-side platform base with paw feet. An original Parminter item, decorated with souvenirs from their grand tour of Italy.
Full description
In her article ''Crafting Narratives: Specimens, Souvenirs and Morsels in A La Ronde's Specimen Table'' published in the journal Eighteenth-Century Fiction (Fall 2018), Material Fictions Part 1, Freya Gowrley discusses this table in the broader context of Grand Tour specimen collecting and local specimen collecting. Most poignantly she puts the case to suggest that the inclusion of the central enamel plaque 'LIFE SHALL TRIUMPH OVER DEATH' transforms the table into a personal commemorative item for Elizabeth Parminter who died shortly after the Parminter sisters return from their tour of Europe.
References
Eighteenth-Century Fiction (Fall 2018), Material Fictions Part 1, Freya Gowrley, ''Crafting Narratives: Specimens, Souvenirs and Morsels in A La Ronde's Specimen Table''