Another curious addition to the room is a small table with gradines and an armorial cartouche panel, set under a small baldacchino, all in red according to long-standing custom. The example seen here is taken from the Palazzo Sachetti, a patrician family with a lineage of cardinals.
While the photo does not depict the table for cardinals, it depicts a similar custom that belongs to some Roman princely families, reflected in the armorial bearing of the family instead of the cardinalatial coat-of-arms with typical galero.
Cardinals today have a much smaller version in their apartments, if they choose to continue this time-honored tradition.
On this table has always been placed matching candlesticks and the "galero" hat of the cardinal, highly symbolic because this version of a cardinal's hat (abolished in 1969 and replaced today with the biretta) was received directly from the hands of the Pontiff himself. Today the biretta takes its place on the table.
Below is a description of a new cardinal's reception of the red hat (galero) at his residence in Rome after it was placed on his head in the Vatican Basilica (from this source):
"In the evening, a papal sacristan with his deputy and several members of the papal Anticamera arrived in the residence of a new cardinal in order to present him the red hat on behalf of the Holy Father. After the sacristan’s speech and thanks of the cardinal, the galero, covered with a red veil trimmed with golden tassels, was placed on a table covered with damask, between two candlesticks with lit candles."
The material seen in the photo above is woven wool textile with baroque elements of silk applique made to resemble the terracotta arms of the Sachetti family. It is similar to that of the cardinal in the family (minus the galero), Giulio Cesare Cardinal Sachetti (1586-1663), the uncle of another cardinal in the family, Urbano Cardinal Sacchetti (1640-1705).
This beautiful 17th-century example was kept for centuries in situ at the entrance of the piano nobile (second story) in the Palazzo Sachetti, the largest and most beautiful on Rome's posh Via Giulia.
The recent paterfamilias of this family was Marquis don Giulio Sachetti, who retired from the Vatican in 2001. When he passed in 2010 after a long illness, his heirs liquidated these contents of the interior, selling the property and auctioning off these venerable treasures. Thus, this historic chapter has ended.
The chair, also visible in the first photo, is typical Renaissance style. Made of walnut, it has traditional foliate finials above a rectangular back with straight arms and a padded, rectangular seat. It has turned tapering legs joined by stretchers, with paw feet at the bottom. This may have been the chair for the pope, possibly reupholstered at a later date given that fine silks do not last long on furniture.
The giltwood candlesticks that were on the table were tall. These, made of pine, measure 4 ft. 6 1/4 in. They are Italian designed with a composite leaf carved tapering and baluster stem on a triform scrolled base on inward scrolled feet carved with acanthus leaves. Many of these were later fitted for electricity, and had pleated cream shades put on them. Today, these are in "country house condition," adding to their character, with typical marks and chips to the gilding. The gilded drip-pans are a practical must.
