ANTIQUITES MOBILIER ET OBJETS D'ART

VERY RARE LOUIS XIV GILTWOOD CENTER TABLE

PERIOD : XVII th century, Louis XIV, circa 1690-1700

TECHNIQUE : carved and gilt oak  and Rouge de Maine marble

DIMENSIONS :  height 33 ¾ in       width 76 ¼ in         depth 32 in

DESCRIPTION :

Impressive Louis XIV center table, in, raised on eight legs and under a rectangular top with moulded edge. The frieze is carved overall with foliate clasps and upswept acanthus.
It is raised on eight tapering square baluster legs similarly carved with foliate clasps, and arranged in groups of four legs on each side. Each group has an arc-shaped strecher carved with scrolls. The central x-shaped stretcher is centered with a rectangular platform. The whole is richly carved with acanthus leaves, beads, floral pendants and rosettes.

The architectural and solemn design of this table is typical of Louis XIV furniture drawn by Jean Bérain (1640-1711), Dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roy.
The marble used for the top is virtually identical to that in the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles.

Because of the size and the quality of the sculpture of this table, there is no doubt that it comes from a royal residence.

SIMILAR EXAMPLES :

There remains very few large center tables of Louis XIV period.

These tables were often executed after models published in books such as the Livre de tables qui sont dans les appartements du roy, sur lesquelles sont posés les bijoux du Cabinet des Médailles  by Antoine and Pierre Lepautre circa 1680 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris).
Few prestigious collections exhibit Louis XIV center tables.
The Château de Versailles displays a splendid center table in gilded and carved oak very close to ours.

The high style of the reign of Louis XIV, with its dazzling technique, is also illustrated by a large giltwood table preserved today in a private collection. This table has been proved one of a group of tables delivered since 1683 for the Gallery des Glaces in Versailles.
The Musée du Louvre also displays a table with eight legs but dated circa 1713 (in Le mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Tome 2, p. 36). This table is typical of the style of the 1690’s and1700’s, on which come to be grafted some elements announcing Régence style.

BIBLIOGRAPHY :

- D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tenenbaum, A. Lefébure, Le Mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Tome 2, Éditons Faton,1993.
- P. Arizzoli-Clémentiel, Le Mobilier de Versailles, Tome 2, Éditions, 2002.
- P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier français du Moyen Age à Louis XV, Tome 1, Gay Le Prat Editeur, 1978.
- De Versailles à Paris, le destin des Collections Royales, Catalogue de l’exposition, Centre culturel du Panthéon, Paris, 1989.