Offered by Galerie Pellat de Villedon
Furniture, works of art and paintings
Console, carved, stuccoed and gilded wood, top of marble carved as a "bec de corbin", late Louis XV period. Size (H x W x D): 132 x 81,5 x 51,5 cm.
The console has a crossbow-shaped belt resting on two curved console legs, joined together by a strut occupied by a nut. The belt and the base are openworked by a fine sculpture work combining the sinuous curves of the rocaille ending enriched with acanthus, and the garlands of flowers falling in festoons from a central ring, following a more neoclassical way, as the row of pearls placed below the marble.
The spacer is occupied by a shell inspired by the work, often reproduced, of the architect Contant d'Ivry. Above it stands an added element (most likely replacing a base that was too damaged). The latter is crowned with the egret, authentic, from which two garlands festoon. The one on the left has been copied, the one on the right is original.
The base ends in two powerful acanthus leaves rolled up on themselves.
This console is a late achievement in the reign of Louis XV. It is already strongly impregnated with the pleas to the goldsmiths of Cochin and the pious wishes of the abbot Dubois for a return to classicism and the antique model. This return takes place as soon as Soufflot and Marigny return from Rome, and is encouraged by Madame de Pompadour in the last years of her life.
Old gilding (with mixtion) and resumption made with the leaf in a recent restoration. The left garland of the walnut and the support of the egret brought back.
