Pair of marble wall Consoles

Pair of painted and gilded MARBLE wall consoles representing a young Nubian couple.

Venetian work from the beginning of the 19th century.

Dimensions: H 36 x L 36.5 x D 28 cm


The craze for Exoticism, present in arts and decoration since the beginning of the 18th century, continued in Europe until the 20th century with motifs from Africa and the Americas.

A true base for numerous influences, the Letters give rise to multiple reflections around the myth of the “Good Savage”:
-Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe in 1719;
-The Ingenu by Voltaire in 1767;
-Supplément au voyage de Bougainville by Diderot in 1772;
-Paul and Virginie by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre in 1788;
-Atala by Chateaubriand in 1801.

The wild state, the happiest period of humanity, providing all necessities is then described as a lost paradise.

Writers have thus fueled the imagination of Painters, Sculptors, Cabinetmakers, who are also inhabited by these representations which have become recurrent in the arts.

Our pair of wall consoles, a tribute to a Nubian couple, is the perfect illustration of this.