211 - Noucentista side table, Catalonia, ca. 1910

Noucentista side table, Catalonia, ca. 1910 Walnut wood and glazed ceramic. In good overall condition. Shows signs of wood-boring insects on the lower shelf. Measurements: 69 × 84 × 34 cm. Provenance: Estate of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Artistic and heritage collection originating in the legacy of Catalan painters Ramon Martí Alsina (1826–1894), a seminal figure of 19th-century Catalan Realism, and his son Ricard Martí Aguiló (1857–1935). Passed down and enriched across successive generations, the collection brings together works from the original holdings of both artists alongside acquisitions made by their descendants. Dedicated to preserving and recovering the family legacy, the descendants actively reacquired works by the painters as they entered the market, progressively expanding the collection to encompass paintings, sculptures, archaeological artifacts, and other items of artistic and historical significance. Unique for its combination of walnut and glazed ceramic, this side table is part of a sober, geometric strand of early 20th-century Art Nouveau. The lightweight structure, supported by diagonal braces, highlights the construction, while the ceramic surfaces introduce subtle hallmarks in both material and color. The decoration of the panels—based on straight lines and small geometric motifs in blue on a light background—departs from the style’s more organic forms and aligns the piece with the trends toward greater formal refinement that emerged around 1900–1910. The arrangement of the various support surfaces further reinforces the functional character of this type of occasional furniture intended for the home.