Louis XVI Pale Grey-Painted Console

About the Item

The red and white variegated molded rectangular original marble top with canted front corners above a pierced frieze finely carved with scrolling foliage, raised on four stop-fluted turned tapering legs headed by floral paterae and joined by a guilloche-carved stretcher centering a flowering urn hung with swags. The two front legs slightly slanted as a weight bearing mechanism. The Neoclassical style, sometimes called Louis Seize, or Louis XVI, began in the late 1750s. Tiring of the Rococo style, craftsmen of the 18th century turned for inspiration to Classical art. The movement was stimulated by archaeological discoveries (Pompei and Herculanum), by travel in Italy, Greece, and the Middle East, and by the publication all over Europe of works on classical monuments. The Neoclassical style, based on straight lines and rectilinear forms and using a selection of Classical ornaments, was first applied to French furniture during the 1760s. Classical motifs at first were sparingly applied to furniture of unchanged form, but slowly the curved line of Rococo was replaced by a simpler and more severe rectilinear design: chair and console legs became straight, tapered, and fluted. The most typical feature in the constructional details of Louis XVI furniture is the fluted leg and at the end is a square box filled with a rosette, as is the case in our piece. This console is a very elegant example of a finely sculpted piece made in Paris for a demanding clientele.

Dimensions:

Height: 39 in (99.06 cm)Width: 43.25 in (109.86 cm)Depth: 20.8 in (52.84 cm)

Style:

Louis XVI (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Marble,Wood,Carved

Place of Origin:

Europe

Period:

Late 18th Century

Date of Manufacture:

Late 18th Century