CIRCA 1740, POSSIBLY GERMAN

This impressive console table closely relates to one formerly in the collections of Hubert de Givenchy, and sold at Christie's, Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 83. With its richly carved frieze and stretcher and emphasis on symmetry, the console is a fine example of rococo design and relates to designs for consoles executed by the architect Pierre-Noël Rousset for the scultpor Guillaume Dupré, in particular to the form of a console on a design in the Archives Nationales, Minutier central (II, 520).

The richly-carved shaped feet and pierced frieze and stretcher also relate to the oeuvre of the designer Nicolas Pineau (1684-1754). The central cartouche and scrolled feet appear on a console designed by Pineau circa 1731-1732 for the hôtel de Villars. Related designs by Pineau were published by Mariette in the Nouveaux desseins de pieds de table et de vases et consoles and the frieze and stretcher of the present lot are related to one of these designs preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (acc.E.1132-1888). Interestingly Nicolas Pineau decorated the hôtel d'Ourrouer in 1732 which later became home to the comparable conosle table when in the collection of Hubert de Givenchy.