A PAIR OF FRENCH GILTWOOD CONSOLE TABLES

Description:

after a design of Richard de Lalonde, late 18th century
85 x 93 x 46 cm
Each with later demi lune carrara marble top above a fluted frieze, carved with trailing foliage and pearls, resting on three pierced and scrolling supports, ending in claw feet. Minor restorations and traces of age.
From an important German private Collection.
With its finely carved flower garlands and the triple addorsed claw feet this pair of consoles can be attributed to Richard de Lalonde. Lalonde, like Delafosse, was one of the most talented ornamental designers of the Louis XVI period and was repeatedly commissioned to execute projects for the royal residences. For instance, Salverte mentions drawings for consoles intended for the King's games room at Saint Cloud, that are dated 1788, see F.J.B. Watson, Le Meuble Louis XVI, Paris, 1963, pp.80-81. For a console table also probably from a design by Richard de Lalonde in the Musée du Louvre, see C. A. Packer, Paris Furniture by the Master Ebénistes, Newport, 1956, fig. 200. Other comparable console tables with the same bases and large-scale volutes were sold Christie’s, London, 12 December 2002, lot 30. A comparable drawing is shown in Berlin, reproduced in Die Französischen Zeichnungen der Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, 402. HD2 3629. The triple addorsed claw feet appear on another drawing by Lalonde also in Berlin, reproduced op. cit. HD2 3628.