A 200-year-old table valued at £3,500 around 100 years ago when it was bought by Alfred de Rothschild has sold at auction for more than £200,000.
The piece, an Italian micromosaic and marble table, was part of the £1.4 million sale of selected contents from Exbury House in Hampshire, which went under the hammer at the Woolley and Wallis salerooms, in Salisbury.
The metre-high table is believed to have been made by Giacomo Raffaelli, the inventor of the micromosaic technique, who also produced items of furniture for Napoleon Bonaparte at the turn of the
19th century.

It was bought by Alfred de Rothschild during the 1800s, originally for Halton House in Buckinghamshire, where it remained until being moved to Exbury around 100 years ago.
Four telephone bidders fought against a determined buyer in the room at the end of the five-hour sale.
Bidding opened at £35,000 and rapidly passed, what in hindsight provded a very conservative £40,000 to 60,000 guide price.

The room buyer was eventually successful at the final total of £200,000.
“The Rothschild family have long had a well-deserved reputation for sourcing exceptional pieces from high quality and talented craftsmen,” said specialist Mark Yuan-Richards, who was handling
the auction.

“That is exemplified by this piece of finely detailed craftsmanship by one of the leading artists of the time.”
Other highlights of the auction were an 18th Century Chinese cloisonné cong vase at £75,000; a pair of Louis XV ormolu fire dogs, similar to a pair at Waddesdon Manor, which sold for £62,500; a pair of Louis XVI rock crystal and ormolu candlesticks at £37,500; an Italian embossed parade shield from the 19th Century, selling at £60,000, and an important pair of rosewood and ormolu-mounted tables at £65,000.
The sale concluded with a premium inclusive total of £1,390,875.