Tripod Table

Unique in its design and production, this small table exemplifies the passion in the second half of the eighteenth century for rare, hard stones mounted with exquisite gilt bronzes. The top is made of a slate disk veneered with lapis-lazuli marquetry imported from Afghanistan. It was almost certainly cut and polished in Paris into the elaborate pattern of overlaying six-pointed stars. A wealthy and enterprising marchand-mercier, most likely Dominique Daguerre, commissioned a gilt-bronze maker to produce the frame and support with three smiling caryatids whose braided tresses meet at the belt of a long, fringed tunic drawn in at the waist. Merchants like Daguerre played a crucial role in producing the most luxurious and expensive furniture of eighteenth-century France.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.