65. PRINCESS SOPHIA ALBERTINA'S CONSOLE TABLE, by Pehr Ljung (ornamental sculptor in Stockholm 1743-1819, royal court sculptor 1788), high-class Gustavian Stockholm work.

Wood-carved decoration, gilded with matted and polished gold, rim with field, decorative pearl rod and stock rod against white background, front with medallion with classic female profile, leg cuffs with sunflowers, tapered legs with canneling, over-collar, with ribbon braid, foot cross with pinecone, Italian slice of carrara marble with 120 inlaid marble samples, height 83, 76 x 44 cm Marked with a handwritten slip of paper on the inner edge: "This marble table belonged to Princess Sofia Albertina, sister of Gustaf the 3rd and Karl the Thirteenth, was given to her Stall master Rothlieb and was later inherited by his sister Mrs. Fiedlerskiöld - After her came the Elers Clan of the House of Commons.Compare the console table made by Pehr Ljung, with a plate with inlaid marble samples from the Roman Forum, made for Carl Fredrik Fredenheim. In the National Museum's collections, NMK 106A/1937 PROVENANCE: According to records, a gift from Princess Sophia Albertina (1753-1829) to the nobleman stable master Carl Wilhelm Rottlieb (1760-1820) his sister Ulrika Eleonora Rothlieb (1764-1842) married to Anders Georg Fiedlersköld (1772 -1836), Lidhems säteri, Kalmar County through sale Admiralty Chamber Councilor Jonas Eggert Elers (1774-1850) married to Ebba Hallström (1790-1858) the landowner and wholesaler Carl Ragnar Liljeroth (1869-1944) married to Tekla Maria Billing (1879-1964) . older brothers Gustav III and Karl XIII came to rule Sweden. Between the years 1783-1794, Sophia Albertina's palace was built at Gustav Adolfs torg, according to the architect Erik Palmstedt's drawings. After the assassination of Gustav III in 1792, Sophia Albertina traveled on her Grand Tour through Europe with her sights set on Italy and the classic destinations her brother had visited just over a decade earlier. Her purchased art objects were shipped out from the Italian port city of Livorno, to be received by Admiral Carl August Ehrensvärd in Karlskrona for onward transport to Stockholm and her palace. The princess was never married and was thus without breast heirs at her death in 1829. However, she considered Charlotta Forssberg, married Stenbock, to be her half-sister, which meant that Countess Stenbock and her son Magnus inherited large parts of Sophia Albertina's estate.

The nobleman Carl Wilhelm Rothlieb became page to the dowager queen Lovisa Ulrika in 1772 and four years later chamber page to princess Sophia Albertina. From 1785, Rothlieb was master of stables to Gustav III with service to his sister Sophia Albertina. Apparently, Rothlieb and the princess had a good relationship as her stable master received the "marble table" as a gift according to the record. One can speculate whether the beautifully framed record was one of the objects that Sophia Albertina brought home from her Grand Tour and had Pehr Ljung make another stand. In the princess's estate record from 1829, it appears in any case that there were two tables with inlaid marble slabs; "In the Stora Toiletten 1 St. Table, inlaid, with marble shard" and "In the Stora Bibliotheket 1 St. inlaid marble table". Given that the auction table has a medallion with a female profile facing left, it should originally have been made up of a pair with medallions facing each other. In her will, the princess generously distributed sums of money as well as objects to her other loyal servants, although others were not named. In the National Archives, there is information about both her court status, estate register and will preserved.

During Pehr Ljung's early Gustavian production of ornamental sculpture, his works often have an architectural weight that draws its inspiration from the world of ancient form. Carl August Ehrensvärd's visit in 1782 to the city of Pæstum, on the Gulf of Salerno in Italy, resulted in an almost propagandistic movement where the Doric temples became an image of pure antiquity. Two years later, Gustav III also traveled to Pæstum, in connection with his Italian trip, which was the starting point for the introduction of the late Gustavian era in Sweden. In its small format, the console table has a clear anchoring in antiquity, through the powerful fluted legs that only have a slight taper towards the floor. This idiom is a direct flirtation with the Doric order, which is further enhanced by the antiquated female profile that forms the central decoration in the rim where the stock staves meet. In the National Museum's collections, there is one of three related console tables by Pehr Ljung, commissioned by the superintendent Carl Fredrik Fredenheim. Densamme received permission to excavate at the Roman Forum in 1789 and brought home marble fragments which were framed in a slab of carrara marble, with the underlay by Pehr Ljung.

Most of the members of the Gustavian royal family gave Ljung assignments for both fixed and loose furnishings, both Gustav III and his brothers Duke Karl and Prince Fredrik Adolf, as well as his sister Princess Sophia Albertina. All of the siblings decorated their pleasure castles, city palaces and not least the floors of Stockholm's castle in the neoclassical style that we popularly call Gustavian.

The table top contains exclusively Italian types of marble and limestone, according to the following non-exhaustive list: 1. Paesina (Italian limestone from the Apennines) 6. Paesina 10. Siena, marble 14. Bleu Turquin 15. Verde Antico, marble 16. Paesina 23. Orbicular mineral or rock 37. Paesina 36. Portoro 41. Paesina 42. Travertine?
44. Serpentine 48. Siena Giallo 49. Verde Antico 51. Breccia Medicea 56. Siena Giallo?
57. Portoro 58. Alabaster?
59. Siena 60. Marble Nero 61. Breccia Violetta 62. Calcite 64. Carrara 65. Siena 66. Rosso Levanto 67. Calcite 68. Paesina 69. Diaspro de Sicilia 70. Diaspro de Sicilia, marble 71. Greek porphyry?
72. Limestone possibly Paesina 74. Paesina 76. Diaspora de Sicilia 77. Carrara 78. Bleu Turquin 79. Paesina 80. Calcite 82. Amethyst or fluorite 83. Siena 86. Siena Giallo 87. Breccia Medicea 90. Siena 94. Paesina 95. Breccia Medicea 102. Carrara 103. Diaspro de Sicilia 104. Siena 106. Breccia Medicea 107. Paesina 108. Portoro 111. Bleu Turquin 112. Diaspro de Sicilia 113. Paesina 116. Coarse crystalline possibly Greek marble 120. Serpentine.