Pair of French Louis XV Style Oak Bedside Tables With Gallery Top

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A pair of French oak bedside tables in the Louis XV manner, dating to 1910 and typical of the high-quality … Read more A pair of French oak bedside tables in the Louis XV manner, dating to 1910 and typical of the high-quality provincial furniture production that flourished in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Tables of this form, known in French as tables de chevet, were a staple of the bourgeois bedroom and were produced in considerable numbers by regional workshops interpreting the Rococo Revival taste that remained popular in France long after its fashionable peak.

Each table is constructed in quarter-sawn oak with a warm honey-brown patina, the pronounced medullary ray figuring clearly visible on the side panels and lending the pieces a quiet distinction. The shaped gallery top has serpentine front corners and a low raised back rail, practical for bedside use. Below sits a single drawer with a moulded cartouche-shaped drawer front and a small circular brass knob. An open lower shelf provides additional storage, framed by a shaped and scalloped apron that echoes the Rococo sensibility of the overall design. The corner uprights are moulded and carved in the French provincial manner, and the four slender cabriole legs terminate in pointed pad feet with characteristic French elegance.

The two tables are closely matched in construction, patina, and proportion, presenting as a cohesive pair. The quarter-sawn oak and quality of the joinery suggest a competent provincial workshop rather than mass production. See less