Each depicting landscapes, one with three figures and buildings, the other with two figures by a river with a tower and winch, the stones including Alberese d'Arno and rosso brecciato with a black Belgian marble border, in associated ormolu frames
The plaques: 8 in. (20 cm.) high; 11 in. (28 cm.) wide
Including frames: 9 in. (23 cm.) high; 12¹⁄₄ in. (31 cm.) wide

Anonymous sale; Tennants, North Yorkshire, 19 July 2013, lot 267.

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Lot Essay

The beautiful background of these plaques is a stone found in the River Arno in Florence called Alberese and part of a group of stones known generally as pietra paesina. Mineral deposits in these stones form enchanting patterns that were used by the Florentine lapidaries as trees or other natural features in pietra dura plaques. Employed much more rarely than the black Belgian marble or paragone di Fiandra background of many Florentine plaques, this background was particularly prized in the 17th century and was used principally for landscape or hunting scenes.