Tea Table (c. 1907): Art, History and Details

Tea Table (c. 1907) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Carlo Bugatti (Italian, 1856–1940).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Luxurious materials might catch the eye first, but a closer look reveals the imaginary creatures that adorn the surface of this table. Featuring elaborate arches, a favorite motif that appeared throughout Bugatti's furniture, this fantastical imagery is a window into the designer's expressive imagination.

Object facts

• Title: Tea Table
• Date: c. 1907
• Creator attribution: Carlo Bugatti (Italian, 1856–1940)
• Culture: France, Paris
• Type: Furniture and woodwork
• Technique: inlaid wood (mahogany?), cast and gilded bronze mounts, inlays of ivory or bone, metal, and mother-of-pearl (marine mussels or pearl oysters)
• Dimensions: Overall: 71.5 x 67.1 x 41.3 cm (28 1/8 x 26 7/16 x 16 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Furniture
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1991.45

A detail from the museum

Carlo Bugatti's sons achieved illustrious careers of their own. Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916) became a celebrated sculptor, and Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947) manufactured luxurious automobiles and racing cars.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• L'Art Decoratif 25, no. 1 (June 1911).
• Duncan, J. Alastair. "The Silver of Carlo Bugatti," The Magazine Antiques 136, no. 6, (December 1989): 1344-55.
• Hawley, Henry. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.