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Lot Essay
These striking consoles, with naturalistically carved supports in the form of trees wrapped in grapevines, relate to a group of similar Roman baroque consoles, which derive ultimately from the designs of the celebrated Baroque architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and designer Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615-1674). The most celebrated table with naturalistically-carved tree trunk support, attributed to Bernini, was made to support his marble figure of San Lorenzo and is in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Roma e il Regno delle Due Sicilie, Milan, 1984, vol. I, p. 56, fig. VII). Two designs for related consoles, attributed to Bernini and Schor, are in the National Museum, Stockholm (op. cit., vol. II, figs. 181-2). Furniture-makers of the 18th Century undoubtedly continued to draw inspiration from these highly influential sculptors.
A pair of similar Italian consoles, although with two more sparsely decorated trunk supports, was sold at Christie's, New York, 17 October 1997, lot 43 ($101,500) and a further example, similarly draped in grape bunches and vines, is in the Palazzo Tozzoni, Imola (E. Colle, Il Mobile Barocco in Italia, Milan, 2000, p. 138, no. 33). A further comparable pair of consoles of almost the same proportions, and with very similar tops and lappeted friezes, were formerly at Euston Hall, Thetford and were sold by the Duke of Grafton at Christie’s, London, 11 December 1958, lot 98.
Such naturalistic ornament was also favoured by contemporary English rococo designers and furniture-makers for consoles, notably Thomas Johnson. A similar side table attributed to Johnson from the collection of the Earl of Dartmouth is illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 99, while another example is at Corsham Court, Wiltshire.
A pair of similar Italian consoles, although with two more sparsely decorated trunk supports, was sold at Christie's, New York, 17 October 1997, lot 43 ($101,500) and a further example, similarly draped in grape bunches and vines, is in the Palazzo Tozzoni, Imola (E. Colle, Il Mobile Barocco in Italia, Milan, 2000, p. 138, no. 33). A further comparable pair of consoles of almost the same proportions, and with very similar tops and lappeted friezes, were formerly at Euston Hall, Thetford and were sold by the Duke of Grafton at Christie’s, London, 11 December 1958, lot 98.
Such naturalistic ornament was also favoured by contemporary English rococo designers and furniture-makers for consoles, notably Thomas Johnson. A similar side table attributed to Johnson from the collection of the Earl of Dartmouth is illustrated in A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, London, 1968, fig. 99, while another example is at Corsham Court, Wiltshire.