Console table
Alcora Manufactory
(Spanish, active 1727–about 1858)
Julian Lopez
(Spanish, working about 1745–1779, died 1792)
Jacinto Causada
(Spanish, active about 1745–65)
about 1761–63
Medium/TechniqueTin-glazed earthenware, colored enamels
DimensionsOverall: 96.5 x 132.7 x 68.6 cm (38 x 52 1/4 x 27 in.)
Credit LineHenry H. and Zoe Oliver Sherman Fund
Accession number2010.585
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
This table is the only known example of ceramic furniture produced by the royal factory at Alcora, Spain's leading producer of fine ceramics in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the 10th Count of Aranda, it was probably conceived as part of a "porcelain room," perhaps to rival the one recently commissioned by King Carlos III for the royal palace at Aranjuez. Factory archives mention such a table in combination with large wall plaques, small figures on brackets, and a ceramic chandelier. When combined, the impact of the richly modeled forms and painted decoration must have been spectacular-a fitting tribute to Spain's ceramic ambitions as well as the Count's.
ProvenanceAbout 1955, with Maurice de Rothschild (b. 1881 - d. 1957), Geneva; sold by or through Rothschild to Armand de Wittekind (d. 1970), Geneva; by inheritance to his widow, Charlotte de Wittekind, Geneva and Bas Monthoux, France; about 1978, sold by Mrs. Wittekind to Pierre Vandermeersch, Paris; about 1978, sold by Vandermeersch to a private collector ("B.L."), Paris; 2008, sold from this private ("B.L.") collection to Michel Vandermeersch and Alain Moatti for Voltaire Antiques, Paris; 2010, sold by Voltaire Antiques to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 22, 2010)
about 1730
