A French Régence carved and giltwood console table, circa 1720

Pelham Paris, 2015

Anne Forray-Carlier, Le Mobilier du Musée Carnavalet, Dijon, 2000

Calin Demetrescu, Le Style Louis XIV, Paris, 2002

Calin Demetrescu, Le Style Régence, Paris, 2003

Bill G.B. Pallot, Nicolas Sainte Fare Garnot, Le mobilier français du musée Jacquemart-André, Dijon, 2006

This console, or “table-console”, is characteristic of the Régence style, particularly in its overall form, which is reminiscent of the early commodes that appeared around 1710. These were sometimes referred to as “tables en bureau”, “bureau”, or “bureau en commode”, and represented a transitional form between the arched writing desk and the storage chest.

The structure appears to be composed of two stacked elements: the base and the apron. Several decorative features are typical of the early 18th century, such as the use of a central stretcher, a background with diamond trellis motifs, and legs shaped in a double S-curve.

Particularly notable are the satyr masks placed at the top of each leg, with pointed ears and a small beard – a popular decorative motif among sculptors and ornamentalists of the period. The way these masks are set into the recessed part of the leg recalls the gilt-bronze satyr mounts found on certain metal-inlaid consoles attributed to André-Charles Boulle, also dating from the 1720s.