Antique Italian Grand Tour Pietra Dura Floral Inlay Marble Desk Top Obelisk, Thermometer frame condition with the fully intact

condition with the fully intact cut glass or crystal inkwells and

the box or etui

the feather in the Royal aid's hat

Likely a Palais Royal piece

There is also some surface scratching to the lid and wear to the ebonized finish around the center lid cartouche and escutcheon areas from the years of soft polishing

Antique Italian Grand Tour Pietra Dura Floral Inlay Marble Desk Top Obelisk, Thermometer frame condition with the fully intactAll over Rome one sees the ancient obelisks from Egypt, brought as spoils of the early expansion of the Roman Empire over 2000 years ago, and the repetition of that ancient form here, in Italian marble and by 19th century Italian artisans, is a Grand Tour souvenir that must have thrilled early travelers as much as these do us today. The rare form makes a fabulous grouping, desktop, as you know. These are rather rare, most having given over to the