Tabletop ecclesiastical lectern with griffins. - Wood - 1850-1900

Important and scenographic ecclesiastical tabletop lectern for a missal, Italian manufacture and attributable to around 1900, made in carved and inlaid wood.

The most interesting element is the supporting structure, characterized by two large full-round carved-winged griffins depicted with open jaws, wings spread, and clawed feet. The figures support the inclined reading plane and give the piece a pronounced neogothic and historicist character, typical of the nineteenth-century revival taste.

Particularly rich is the decoration of the reading plane, embellished with contrasting wooden inlays depicting an intricate motif of vine tendrils, leaves and grape clusters, arranged symmetrically around a large central cross. The iconography of vine and grapes, traditionally associated with the Eucharist, underscores the religious purpose of the object.

The rectangular base features dark-wood profiling and rests on four feet carved in the shape of a predatory paw, in harmony with the griffins that support the lectern.

An object of notable decorative presence, interesting both as an element of sacred and ecclesiastical art and as an example of historicist cabinetry from the nineteenth century.

The specimen shows signs of age and use compatible with its era, including scratches, surface wear, wood cracks, openings at some joints, small losses and traces of previous interventions/repairs. There are also cracks and restoration marks on some carved elements.

We therefore invite you to carefully observe all the photographs, which are an integral part of the description and document details and the condition.

Period: second half of the nineteenth century, around 1900
Origin: Italy
Material: carved and inlaid wood, partly ebonized
Style: Historicism / Neogothic
Decorative subject: winged griffins, cross, vine tendrils and grape clusters
Use: ecclesiastical lectern / missal lectern

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