Directoire Consulate Period Pedestal Table - Return From Egypt - Mahogany And Sea Green Marble

Tripod pedestal table in mahogany veneer, the sea green marble top rests on 3 bronze-style patinated mahogany legs with griffin heads ending in lion claws. An intermediate shelf at the crotch. Beautiful Parisian production from the end of the Directoire or Consulate period around 1795-1800 in the so-called Return from Egypt style which became fashionable at the very end of the 18th century and in the 1800s. This style is the "antechamber" of the Empire style: it is still borrowed from the 18th century, resolutely turned towards antiquity with an archaeological will. Our pedestal table is a production entirely in the taste of Bernard Molitor, who made many models with similar lines with a smaller spacer top. Furthermore, the elegance of the lines, the quality and the nervousness of the sculpture are the signature of a great master. Our piece of furniture is not stamped, but this attribution is possible. Bernard Molitor (1755 - November 17, 1833) - cabinetmaker in Paris, master on October 26, 1787. Molitor quickly became one of the first Parisian cabinetmakers and received orders from the Court from 1788. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, general commissioner of the Garde Meuble de la Couronne, was seduced by the austere elegance of his productions and also wanted to moderate royal spending. Very innovative, Molitor was a precursor of the Empire style, one of the main craftsmen of this "Transition Louis XVI Empire" style. From the end of the Louis XVI era, he announced the Empire style by using on his refined furniture, decorated with bronzes, busts of Egyptian women, motifs of ivy leaves wrapped around detached columns as well as friezes of stylized palmettes or winged griffins which would be commonly used under the Empire. At the forefront of creation during the revolutionary period, he went through this period without difficulty. In 1802 he transferred his workshops to rue Saint-Honoré, then, under the Empire, boulevard de la Madeleine. Molitor continued his career until the Restoration, meeting with great success, even if he did not benefit from major orders from the Emperor and then from the Court. He ended his days near Fontainebleau where he died in 1833. This format of small pedestal table, very practical to place anywhere, is rare in these dimensions. The coffee table was revarnished with a new buffer. It is in perfect condition. Height: 72.5cm Diameter: 57cm