As the seventeenth century advanced, we find a school of decoration in vogue that is termed Florentine, and in all probability the kind of marble mosaic work which is so well known as Florentine, originated in the city of the Medici. When the famous collection of Hamilton Palace was sold in 1882, there were several examples of this gorgeous and over-decorated furniture, in which plaques of marble formed the fronts of doors or drawers, and columns of lapis lazuli supported the cornices, so that there was little wood to be seen; metal frames inclosed the mosaic plaques, metal-chased capitalsand bases finished the columns, and the whole effect was exceedingly rich and handsome. A favourite design of this inlaid marble was a bird on a sprig, or some fruit or flowers, generally in a panel. From this kind of mosaic work with a flat surface, the designers of Italian furniture developed the enrichment of their cabinets by another method of ornamentation in marble and stone, known by the name of pietra dura, in which different descriptions of agates and cornelians, marbles and coloured stones, were cut and arranged in such designs as a vase holding fruit and flowers, or the bouquet or group of blossoms without the vase. This pietra dura work was in high relief on the panels of the cabinet, and gave a sumptuous effect to the piece of furniture. Marbles cut into small shaped pieces were also prepared by being ground to the substance of veneers and used to ornament the frames of chairs in patterns more or less geometrical, so that only sufficient of the black wood or ebony was visible, as sufficed for a framework of the marble. The same taste provided slabs of this marble mosaic for the tops of large centre tables and for consoles and occasional tables. It was against the canons of good taste, for surely such combinations of wood and marble could never be quite satisfactory, and, like all such crazes and fashions, it has had its day. When occasionally furniture of this kind comes into the market, the price which it realizes is small compared with its great costliness.