FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

The design of this table is derived from the avante garde decoration designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806) for the salle de café of the Café Godeau on rue St Honoré, Paris, in 1762. The café was more commonly known as the café Militaire on account of its clientele, it closed in 1830 and the building was dismantled circa 1850 when the acclaimed boiserie was removed which is now displayed in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris. When the twenty six year old Ledoux produced the designs for the Café Godeau he incorporated many military motifs into the boldly gilt carving of the boiserie however none were so striking as the Roman helmets which capped the protruding foliate-bound reeded columns and which were capped with plumes of real ostrich feathers. The designs of Ledoux, the first to employ such 'antique' motifs, was very influential amongst his contemporaries with similar motifs subsequently employed by other notable proponents of this archaeological style such as Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-1791) and his influence can be felt in the work of later neoclassical architect-designers such as Charles Percier, (1764-1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853).

The helmets Ledoux incorporated in his designs for the the Café Godeau are closely related to those employed in the design of this table and whilst the date of this table would preclude it from being part of Ledoux's original scheme, it is, given the tables reputed provenance, tempting to imagine that this table may have been a later addition to the furnishing of this renowned establishment commissioned complement its celebrated décor.