Pair of 19th Century Alabastro a Pecorella and Gilt Bronze Urns Mounted as Table Lamps

A pair of 19th-century Alabastro a Pecorella urns of classical proportions, converted to table lamps.

The ovoid bodies have gilt bronze mounts in the Louis XVI taste: scrolled handles, laurel swags and ribbon-tied wreaths, with acanthus-leaf cradles, spreading socles and square plinths on small feet. The domed covers have beaded gilt borders.

Suited to a drawing room, library or entrance hall.

The stone: Alabastro a Pecorella is an ancient, strongly patterned stone, mainly red and white with brown and yellow, figured by growths of iron and manganese oxide. Its name comes from its resemblance to sheep's wool. A calcitic alabaster, or onyx marble, it is believed to have been quarried in Western Algeria. It was widely used in imperial Rome, for example for a column shaft in the Museo Capitolino, and prized in the Renaissance and Baroque periods for decorative panels.

Height, excluding fitment: 42.5 cm (16.73 in)
Width: 23 cm (9.06 in)
Depth: 18 cm (7.09 in)