Onyx Coffee Table With Floral Mosaic Inlay, Mid-Century Modern, Brazil

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Description

Exceptional circa 1970s round coffee table, attributed to Brazil, featuring a hand-worked polychrome stone floral mosaic surrounded by a broad … Read more Exceptional circa 1970s round coffee table, attributed to Brazil, featuring a hand-worked polychrome stone floral mosaic surrounded by a broad border of translucent cream onyx. The richly detailed center is composed of hundreds of individually set stone fragments in soft pink, white, green, rust and ochre, forming daisies, rosettes and smaller blossoms against a dense mosaic ground.

The substantial stone top rests on an elegant dark patinated metal base with fluted columnar legs, scrolling brackets, stylized foliate feet and gracefully curved stretchers. The refined Neoclassical Revival base provides an especially effective counterpoint to the exuberant botanical mosaic. At 39 inches in diameter, this example has excellent scale for use as a central cocktail table.

JUNE'S THOUGHTS
What makes this table special is the amount of work in the center. From across the room it reads as a soft field of flowers; up close, you realize that every blossom has been constructed petal by petal from individual pieces of stone. Even the green background is assembled from hundreds of fragments. I also like the restraint of the wide cream onyx border. It gives the intricate floral center room to breathe, while the dark metal base keeps the table from becoming overly decorative. It's an unusual combination that would work particularly well in a sophisticated traditional, Neoclassical or collected interior.

COLLECTOR'SNOTE
The floral surface is composed of hundreds of individually set pieces of colored stone. Narrow, irregular tesserae form the petals, rosettes and radial blossoms, while angular green fragments create the surrounding field. Unlike traditional pietra dura, which relies on precisely shaped stones fitted tightly together, this technique builds the design from hundreds of individually selected and arranged tesserae—an equally labor-intensive approach that gives the floral surface its distinctive texture and spontaneity. A closely related round onyx table documented as Brazilian and dating to the 1970s employs remarkably similar floral mosaic work, supporting an attribution of this unmarked example to Brazil, circa 1970s.

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