Coffee Table With Black Marble Top Decorated In Scagliola

Italy, Louis XVI style structure, 18th century – later adaptations and restorations
Elegant coffee table with a black marble top, featuring a rich figurative decoration entirely executed in scagliola. The marble surface, crossed by natural golden veining, serves as the background for an elaborate composition with putti, architectural elements, landscape settings and trees, created through a careful process of carving the marble and subsequently filling it with scagliola.
The same technique is used for the perimeter border in faux lapis lazuli, also in scagliola, which frames the top and enhances its decorative impact.
As visible in the photographs, the marble top had suffered a fracture, which was later professionally restored. The restoration is currently stable, well executed and consistent with both the use of the object and its overall appearance.
The wooden base, with tapered fluted legs, angles highlighted by reserves and restrained gilded details, can be attributed to the Louis XVI decorative language, in terms of proportions, style and construction.The structure appears to have been originally conceived as a bench, later adapted for use as a coffee table to accommodate the present marble top.
Later structural interventions are visible, including the addition of an internal frame and central reinforcements, likely carried out in the second half of the 20th century (approximately 40–50 years ago) in connection with the change of use. These modifications, while discernible upon close inspection, are functional and well executed, without compromising the formal balance of the piece.
The table is in good overall condition, retaining a coherent patina and a strong decorative presence, making it suitable as a coffee or center table.
Dimensions: 100 × 50 × height 42 cm