Large Empire Style Pedestal Table in Mahogany and Mahogany Veneer, 1880

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Very handsome Empire-style pedestal table in mahogany and superb ormolu mount after a model by Jacob-Desmalter, the circular top in … Read more Very handsome Empire-style pedestal table in mahogany and superb ormolu mount after a model by Jacob-Desmalter, the circular top in verde antico marble surmounting a mahogany frieze mounted with a band of laurel leaves between rosettes, supported by the heads of three finely chased ormolu female caryatids, each facing outwards, hair braided, bare feet and arms crossed, wearing armbands and a diaphanous gown, the brace centered by a chased covered urn flanked by three elegant squatting winged sphinxes wearing Nemean headdresses and braids tied in front, all resting on claw feet. The design of this superb pedestal table was inspired by a famous table-console or "double-sided console" made by the renowned Parisian cabinetmaker Jacob-Desmalter, itself based on designs by Napoleon's chief architects and ornamentalists, Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853). The console table was delivered in 1808 to the Palais de l'Élysée in Paris, where it was located in the bedroom of Caroline Murat, Napoleon's young sur. It was later moved to the Grand Trianon in Versailles, where it still stands today, is rectangular in shape and originally had a top inlaid with a mosaic copied from Herculaneum, which was replaced by a marble top in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Marble diameter: 93 cm Condition report: in very good condition. Original gilding, cleaned. The varnish has been re-stamped. See less