Table

table with a marble top In the 19th century, eclectic residential interiors were filled with historicising furniture imitating the styles of past eras. Among them, many varieties, sizes and shapes of tables were common. Some of them had a purely utilitarian function, while others belonged to auxiliary furniture, used occasionally. Yet another category consisted of furnishings with a decorative function. They were often seen in old posed family photographs, where they appeared as elements of the composition – various kinds of pedestals, supports, and balustrades. The presented table, which serves as a decorative pedestal, falls into the category of decorative furniture. Details such as the wide, wooden, moulded, fluted edge of the marble top and the three turned legs with joints fastened together by a pinnacle point to designs taken from Renaissance art. The Renaissance became the inspiration for eclectic architecture and interiors in the 19th century, regardless of whether the Renaissance style was reproduced in keeping with the period or was merely a superficial imitation of detail. Prepared by Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967