The Grimani Tables, a famous pair of Italian petra dura and marble table tops, will star in a dedicated auction at Sotheby's London on December 10.
The Grimani were an illustrious Venetian family and acquired the tables in the early 1600s.
 This Grimani Table displays the family's coat of arms |
One was produced in the famous Medici workshops in Florence and was likely given to the Grimani as a gift.
It bears the family coat of arms and is expected to make £400,000-600,000 ($605,194-907,791).
The other was made in Rome and is expected to sell for £300,000-500,000 ($453,895-756,492).
A couple of centuries later they were bought by the Earl of Warwick and brought to the UK's Warwick Castle, where they have remained ever since.
Mario Tavella, deputy chairman of Sotheby's Europe, comments: "These tables are surely one of the greatest demonstrations of wealth, taste and patronage in the domain of antique furniture.
"Being able to present two pietre dure and antique marble table tops with the same provenance is extraordinary rare so when these works of art are of such quality and boast such exceptional provenance, that of the Grimani family and Earls of Warwick, it is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime event in the career of a specialist."
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