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Lot Essay
This exuberantly carved console, lavish with naturalistic carving, demonstrates the triumphant height of the Rococo style which was achieved by the mid-eighteenth century. It is very closely related to a drawing for a console in the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs with similarly scrolled feet and bullrush-carved legs and flowers which is attributed to Pierre Contant d'Ivry, probably intended for the Salle de Jeu of the Palais Royal, dating from circa 1752-3, (illustrated in B. Pallot, L'Art du Sige au XVIIIe Sicle, Paris, 1987, p. 156.)
One of the most influential designers working in the Rococo style, Pierre Contant d'Ivry (1698-1777) held the title of Architect to the King and worked for a rich and influential clientele. Highly regarded by his contemporaries, Contant d'Ivry's work was prized for its temperate approach to the excesses of the asymmetrical Rococo style,which by mid-century were fading from fashion in favor of a more classical restraint.
Several related examples of consoles based on the designs of Contant d'Ivry are known. A console which sold Christie's London, 4 December 1986, lot 96, and now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, illustrated in Pallot, op.cit., p. 155, has a similar arched garland of flowers at the stretcher.
One of the most influential designers working in the Rococo style, Pierre Contant d'Ivry (1698-1777) held the title of Architect to the King and worked for a rich and influential clientele. Highly regarded by his contemporaries, Contant d'Ivry's work was prized for its temperate approach to the excesses of the asymmetrical Rococo style,which by mid-century were fading from fashion in favor of a more classical restraint.
Several related examples of consoles based on the designs of Contant d'Ivry are known. A console which sold Christie's London, 4 December 1986, lot 96, and now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, illustrated in Pallot, op.cit., p. 155, has a similar arched garland of flowers at the stretcher.