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Design for a Surtout de Table, for State Porcelain Service of Ismail, Khedive of Egypt

Gaetano Lodi1873–76

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
New York, United States

Composite design for side view and end view of a large table centerpiece. The side view (to the left) consists of a tall base decorated in the middle with a rectangular cartouche filled with Egyptian motifs, including vertical bands of papyri, on either side of a central field of double rings, joined by a stylized flower, above double necklace motifs. The edge of the base has a band of stylized papyri and scarob beetles. Above the base, a blue hippopotamus, painted with flying birds and stylized papyri, supports a large shallow bowl with flaring rim also decorated with papyri and a band of scarobs alternating with necklaces. The end view of the surtout (to the right) shows a large roundel with state insignia in the middle including the ankh and the royal whip. The same border of papyri decorate edge of base with a central mask. Above the base is a partial view of a blue hippopotamus supporting a shallow bowl.

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Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

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