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Grooved Marble-Topped Round Table
Leo Cloma posted a photo:
Grooved Marbletop Center Table
ca. 1860
Golden narra wood (“Pterocarpus indicus”)
White marble top from southern China
H: 31 3/4" (81 cm)
D: 43 1/2" (110 cm)
PROVENANCE
Made in Binondo, Manila found in Manila and adjacent provinces
The Ultimate Prestige of the Mutli-Grooved Marble-Top Table by AUGUSTO MARCELINO REYES GONZALEZ III
It was during the second half of the nineteenth century (1850–99) that every big “bahay-na-bato” in Las Islas Filipinas (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao) had two round marbletop tables with tripod bases, which signified the high social status of the homeowners, be they hacenderos (plantation owners), merchants, or both. The standard baluster bases had capitals of either upright acanthus leaves or squashes in the 1860s, and the tripod feet were of ball–and–claw in the 1860s and, later in the 1880s, of alternating C-scrolls. The one with a plain molded marble top was placed in the middle of the “caida”/entrance hall, which was the family living room and the center of everyday life. The much more expensive one with multiple grooves on the sides of the marble top — the more grooves, the more expensive, therefore the richer the owner (according to the esteemed Filipiniana researcher and scholar Martin I Tinio Jr) — was placed in the center of the “sala”/living room, which was the formal reception room for important guests and occasions.
This stately round center table with well–articulated, robust carving features a marble top with three grooves from Southern China. The marble top is supported by a simple “cenefa” apron or round frame reinforced horizontally by two crossbars centered by a plinth set on the two long pegs at the top of the tripod base. The thick baluster base has a capital of upturned acanthus leaves and a ring of egg–and– dart motifs underneath. The tripod feet are adorned with stylized, upturned acanthus leaves punctuated with single catmon flowers and terminate with eccentric, indigenized, ball–and–claw feet that look more like human fingers with nails holding a ball — rather than Oriental dragon claws clutching a jewel or Western eagle talons clutching a pearl, or lion paws. This type of upturned acanthus–leaf capital table base, alternating with the squash capital baluster, as well as the indigenized tripod, ball–and–claw feet were the earliest designs when these tables first became available in the 1860s. That became evident when these kinds of tables were found in the older 1840s–1860s “bahay–na– bato” houses.
There are not many of these Filipino grooved marble- top tables extant. Only a few have passed through the Leon Gallery auctions in the last ten years. Many of the extant ones actually have traceable provenances to the “de buena familia” old Filipino families of Manila and the surrounding provinces. They carry the weight of Filipino history. For example, the Lacson–Araneta witnessed the bold proclamation of the Republica de Negros by General Aniceto Lacson during the Philippine Revolution. The Yaptinchay–Yatco saw the great prosperity of the Sangley community of Biñan, but also the grief and fear of the Mercado and Alonso–Alberto clans, indeed all of Binan and Calamba, when one of their own, Dr Jose Rizal, was executed in December 1896. The Arnedo–Sioco table observed the promising youth of Maximino Paterno, Antonio Paterno, Felix Resurreccion–Hidalgo, Jose Rizal, Juan Luna, et al as they played cards and other games on it with Ateneo Municipal schoolmates Cayetano, Macario, and Eugenio Arnedo during summer vacations at the “La Sulipena” villa in Apalit, Pampanga.
True, there are similar, antique grooved marble-top tables to be found in France, Spain , or England, but none of them have seen momentous events infused into all Filipino material culture.
STARTING BID: ₱ 600,000
Lot 145 of the Leon Gallery's
Spectacular Mid Year Auction 2026
Saturday, June 13, 2026
G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino corner Legazpi Street, Makati City
For more information and to place an online bid, please see leon-gallery.com and leonexchange.com
