Rare Middle Console Table In Golden Wood

Rare middle console table in gilded wood resting on four curved legs, the hooves being in the form of doe legs. The console is richly carved with acanthus leaves and flowers on a grid background engraved on the lower part. The belt has a Bérain-style decoration and a Breté background on all its sides. The table is decorated in the center of the belt on both sides by a cartridge trophy decorated with a quiver and a torch. On the side rails, another oval cartridge in the shape of a lamp base. The console opens with a side drawer. It is topped by a top of Belgian red marble. Regency period Customary restorations, restorations to be expected H. 70 x L. 67 x D. 47 cm Small center tables are very rare today. We can nevertheless point out a table similar to ours, presented at Christies on December 16, 2008. The shape of this console presages the appearance of flying tables whose production became common under Louis XV. We can more particularly bring our table closer to the typology of those called cabaret tables, whether by its size or by its marble top, easy to clean if intended to accommodate drinks. Usually topped with a wooden top, the cabaret table can also be covered with marble, as the inventory of Oeben's workshops attests: "a cabaret table... on the top of which is a marble white garnished with a bronze molding” (Guiffrey, “Inventaire de Jean-François Oeben”, p.330). The center console is a decorative element that appears very early in large homes. Its marble top and the care given to its decor on all sides ensure it is prominent in the layout of interiors where an increasingly delicate art of living developed during the 18th century.