Vintage French Ormolu and Porcelain Mounted Console Table, Late 20th Century

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Vintage French Ormolu and Porcelain Mounted Console Table, Late 20th Century

About the Item

This is an elegant French Louis Revival console table dating from the 1970s. This magnificent piece is crafted from mahogany and features eighteen floral painted Sèvres style oval porcelain plaques and superb ormolu mounts with a central circular embossed ormolu plaque depicting two winged cherubs and this is surmounted with a beautiful grey veined marble top. It is raised on elegant fluted, tapering legs joined by a shaped 'X' stretcher with a decorative two handled ormolu urn and cover finial Add a touch of unparalleled elegant French style to your home. Purchased this from a grand house in London and they purchased it from "Meubles Francais" in London in the 1970's. Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 83 x width 107 x depth 43 Dimensions in inches: Height 2 feet, 9 inches x width 3 feet, 6 inches x depth 1 foot, 5 inches "Meubles Francais" was one of the premier retailers of high quality furniture with fabulous showrooms in Mayfair and Marble Arch, London, in the 1970s. Ormolu (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'. The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object. No true ormolu was produced in France after around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury. Therefore, other techniques were used instead but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing ormolu method for sheer beauty and richness of colour. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt (also known as vermeil). Sèvres Porcelain traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738. French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumoured relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sèvres. Sèvres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles. From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sèvres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colours and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sèvres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sèvres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed. The Sèvres Porcelain manufactory always seemed to be in dire financial straits despite the incredibly fine works it produced. In fact, the king's insistence that only the finest items be created may have contributed to the difficulties. Only a limited number of European nobility could afford the extravagant prices demanded for such works. King Louis XV and eventually his heir, the ill-fated Louis XVI, were obliged to invest heavily in the enterprise. Ultimately, the Sèvres Porcelain Factory produced items under the name of "Royal" and thus the well-known Sèvres mark was born. King Louis XV even mandated laws that severely restricted other porcelain production in France so as to retain a near monopoly for his Sèvres Porcelain. The King even willingly became chief salesman for the finest of his products, hosting an annual New Year's Day showing for French nobility in his private quarters at Versailles. He eagerly circulated among potential buyers, pitching the merits of ownership and policing the occasional light-fingered guest. Sèvres Porcelain may have indeed given the makers of Meissen and Dresden a run for their money by the end of the 18th century but for the French Revolution. By 1800, the Sèvres Porcelain Works were practically out of business due to the economic devastation of the new French Republic. About the time when Napoleon Bonaparte named himself Emperor of France (1804), a new director was named for the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. Alexandre Brongniart, highly educated in many fields, resurrected Sèvres Porcelain. Soft-paste porcelain was eliminated altogether thanks to the earlier discovery of kaolin near Limoges. For four decades until his death, Brongniart presided over monumental progress for Sèvres Porcelain, catering not only to Napoleon himself, but at last to include the more financially profitable mid-priced market in the emerging middle class.

Dimensions:
Height: 32.68 in (83 cm)Width: 42.13 in (107 cm)Depth: 16.93 in (43 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany,Marble,Ormolu,Porcelain
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1970-1979
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1970
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 085381stDibs: LU95069033403