Lot Essay
The tables' form, with husk-festoons, Grecian ribbon-fret and vase-centred console feet with strung-patera enrichments, evolved from the type of petite table de trumeau that recalled an antique tripod and was published in the architect Jean-Francois Neufforge's, Recueil Elementaire d'architecture, vol. 8, 1768, pl. 3. Their poetic laurel-wreathed trophies, emblematic of the Arts and Sciences, relate to symbolic trophies published in the architect Jean-Charles Delafosse's, Nouvelle Iconologie Historique, 1768-71. The 'Arts' are represented here by the Cardinal Art of Architecture with the plan of a Doric facade of a church, together with a Corinthian capital, ruler and set-square; while the 'Sciences' are represented by a telescope, compass, planetary book and a medallion with Apollo's-mask together with a starred diadem, and the Autumnal Zodiac band