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Lot Essay
The design of this striking guéridon à l'Antique, which supports a rare specimen of bianco e nero querzo diorite del Wadi Barud, is derived from the designs of the celebrated early 19th century French architect-designers Charles Percier, (1764-1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853) published in the 1812 edition of their important work Recueil des Décorations Intérieures. The designs they published were highly influential on both bronziers end ébénistes with their designs being employed by perhaps the greatest of Empire bronziers Pierre-Philippe Thomire, who from 1804 formed a partnership with Duterme et Cie and supplied the finest ormolu to the court of Emperor Napoleon I. The richness of the ornament with volutes and palmettes is typical of the designs employed during the Restauration, when the revival of the monarchy was celebrated through lavish furnishing schemes. Its form also relates to various Imperial commissions: a guéridon with micro-mosaic top by the Florentine workshop of Giovanni Andrea and Francia Schianta, supplied by Jacob-Desmalter circa 1805 to the Murats for their royal apartments in the Elysée Palace and now in the Grand Trianon, illustrated in D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, Meubles et Objets d'Art, vol. I, 1975, pp. 147-148.
Percier and Fontaine were commissioned to produce designs for Napoleon I and were involved in the design of all manner of ornament and decoration for the former French royal palaces and residences of the Bonapartes; consequently their designs were highly influential in the shaping the late neoclassical style favoured at court which was characterised by the employment of a severe but elegant blend of Greco-Roman and Egyptian forms and motifs which embodied the Empire style.
A related ormolu guéridon, with comparable central shaft, was commissioned by William Beckford to support the rare Breccia verde d'Egitto marble top, which had belonged to the Empress Joséphine formerly in his collection at Fonthill Abbey and now in a private collection. The author of the Beckford table is also unknown but it is thought to have been executed by a French craftsman and whilst of different overall composition to this table it does exhibit some comparable features such as the spandrels supporting the top and the design of the central shaft. A closely related guéridon of slightly smaller size, displaying the same treatment of volutes and palmettes, and almost certainly from the same workshop as this table, was sold anonymously, Poulain Le Fur, Paris, 4 December 1999, lot 213.
Percier and Fontaine were commissioned to produce designs for Napoleon I and were involved in the design of all manner of ornament and decoration for the former French royal palaces and residences of the Bonapartes; consequently their designs were highly influential in the shaping the late neoclassical style favoured at court which was characterised by the employment of a severe but elegant blend of Greco-Roman and Egyptian forms and motifs which embodied the Empire style.
A related ormolu guéridon, with comparable central shaft, was commissioned by William Beckford to support the rare Breccia verde d'Egitto marble top, which had belonged to the Empress Joséphine formerly in his collection at Fonthill Abbey and now in a private collection. The author of the Beckford table is also unknown but it is thought to have been executed by a French craftsman and whilst of different overall composition to this table it does exhibit some comparable features such as the spandrels supporting the top and the design of the central shaft. A closely related guéridon of slightly smaller size, displaying the same treatment of volutes and palmettes, and almost certainly from the same workshop as this table, was sold anonymously, Poulain Le Fur, Paris, 4 December 1999, lot 213.