|
A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF LOUIS XIV PERIOD ORMOLU MOUNTED AND FAUX-BRONZE CONSOLE TABLES OF MASSIVE SCALE WITH SICILIAN JASPER TOPS
French, circa 1661 – 1685
Dimensions: 37½” (95 cm) high
85¼” (217 cm) wide
24” (61 cm) deep
Provenance: Athelhampton, Dorset.
Carlton House Terrace, Earl of Lonsdale
Centred on a gadroon-moulded cartouche, enclosing interlaced “L’s” and flanked by satyr mask heads; the main bronzed framework of the tables are mounted with clasping ormolu acanthus leaves and bordered by geometric strap-work. This geometric pattern is repeated on the sides of the tables with the addition of lion’s feet and stylised sun motifs. The eighteenth century jasper veneered marble tops altered in the nineteenth century to suit.
It is likely that this pair of tables stood en suite to the staircase at 14 Carlton House Terrace, where they were incorporated into Sir Robert Smirke’s designs for the house on its amalgamation with number 15, between 1838 and 1841.
The Earl of Lonsdale, much like his contemporary the Third Marquis of Hertford at Hertford House, was an avid collector of Louis XIV furniture, a passion supplied by the likes of Edward Holmes Baldock¹ and Messrs. Vulliamy & Son². As a functional centrepiece to his collection, this staircase would have made an impressive statement, furthered in its impact by this pair of tables, with their striking marble tops.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century a few select English dealers controlled the market for French furniture. These individuals were the main buyers at the dispersal sales of the deposed French aristocracy; Vulliamy and Baldock’s agents were among the most active purchasers. The sale at Versailles lasted for a year. The Earl of Lonsdale and the Marquis of Hertford had the pick of these items; the latter’s collection now making up the Wallace Collection and the staircase is of a similar period and quality to that at 14 Carlton House Terrace (see attached image).
The Vulliamy family seem the most likely to have been involved in the work carried out for the Earl of Lonsdale and thus most probably the suppliers and restorers of these tables. Sir Robert Smirke had intended to use the firm when he was overseeing work at the Houses of Parliament, particularly for work on St Stephen’s Tower. The firm is also linked with Lowther Castle, the country house of the Lonsdale country seat.
Due to the vast quantity of art entering the country from France during this period, it would probably prove impossible to track down the exact original provenance of this ironwork; however the exceptional quality of the tables lets us surmise that the makers must have been of some renown. Philippe Caffieri, (1634-1716), left Italy to enter the service of Louis XIV at the Gobelin factory. He and a son, Jacques Caffieri, (1678-1755), were employed by the architect Le Brun to make adornments for the palace and gardens at Versailles. Philippe is recorded as having made carved wood decorations for the ambassadors' staircase in the palace. He made bronzes for the king's chamber (1738) and for the council room. His son, Philippe Caffieri II, (1714-74), worked with him, and together they produced an immense volume of metalwork, including sumptuous ormolu (imitation gold made of brass) mountings for furniture, adornments for several of the royal palaces, e.g., Fontainebleau and Choisy, and casings for clocks, notably a celebrated astronomical clock presented to Louis XV. The vigorous manner of these tables is reminiscent of other known metalwork by members of the Caffieri family; one such piece is in the Wallace Collection, a kingwood commode with the same central cartouche in ormolu. While this is an assumption, there are certain details on the tables that can be linked to the decorative motifs of Louis XIV’s palaces:
The ballroom staircase at Chateau Anet. The Duchesse d'Orléans was deported at the end of January 1798 and the sequestered château adjudicated by the administration of the Department d'Eure-et-Loir. The furniture…and art works were sold. The domain was then divided into four parts: the château and gardens fell into the hands of two dealers, Ramsden and Herigoyen, who sold all valuable goods: lead, parquets, chimneys, panelling, doors, and even the gildings. With its long historical links to the French royals, Chateau Anet had been vandalised before this final bout of asset stripping took place.
The War Drawing Room, Versailles. Though the walls centre on a relief carving of Louis XIV, running around the walls is a repeated panel containing the entwined “L’s” and the lion’s paw motif found on the offered pair of tables.
|
