J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Writing Table
This exquisite writing table is attributed to Pierre Golle and was built around 1670. The basic materials are ivory and horn. The horn is translucent and has a mottled character. It can be painted or have colored paper glued to the back side and that color will show through. This table has a lovely mix of the darker horn elements and the ivory. It makes me wonder if the parts were sawn in juxtaposition and that the “left-overs” weren’t also made into a second table. If that happened the existence of the other table is unknown.
The use of the blue horn and ivory would seem to reflect a contemporary interest in Chinese porcelain that used similar colors.