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Lot Essay
These majestic tables, painted in imitation of stone, feature imposing griffin guardians supporting a frieze of delicate attenuated stiff leaves. Since antiquity, the griffin, which combines the body of a lion (the king of the beasts) and the head and wings of an eagle (the king of the birds) has been seen as a symbol of divine power and guardian of treasures. With the revival of interest in antiquity in the late 18th and early 19th century it was therefore a potent image for neo-classical designers.
Although these impressive tables, understandably given their Italianate, baroque grandeur, have previously been linked to the Palladian work from the 1730s and 1740s of the English designer William Kent, certain technical features, notably the use of small wooden pegs in the construction and the use of pine for the cabinet-work and limewood for carved griffins, point to a German origin, while design elements such as the distinct stiff leaves of the frieze point to an early 19th Century date.
Like all of Europe, Germany was swept up in a passion for á l'antique forms in the early part of the 19th Century, a taste which was promoted in particular by the hugely influential design book Recueil de Décorations Intérieres of Napoleon's favorite architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, which first started to appear in 1801. Similar griffins appear in Percier and Fontaine's designs for the ceiling of Napoleon's bedroom in the Palais des Tuileries and in a commmode made for Mme. de M. in Paris (op. cit., plates 26 and 53).
In Germany, the à l'antique style was enthusiastically embraced by designers such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin, Nikolaus Thouret in Stuttgart and Leo van Klenze in Munich. Two closely related tables from Berlin are recorded, both featuring imposing griffin supports. One formerly in the Stadtschloss Berlin, also shown here, is illustrated in H. Schmitz, Deutsche Möbel des Klassizismus, Stuttgart, 1923, p. 132. A second related table in the Stadtschloss, Potsdam, its design attributed to the noted neo-classical sculptor Gottfried Schadow (who studied in Italy under Canova and was also known for his architectural and ornamental designs), is illustrated in H. Kriesel, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, 1973, vol. III, fig. 293.
Although these impressive tables, understandably given their Italianate, baroque grandeur, have previously been linked to the Palladian work from the 1730s and 1740s of the English designer William Kent, certain technical features, notably the use of small wooden pegs in the construction and the use of pine for the cabinet-work and limewood for carved griffins, point to a German origin, while design elements such as the distinct stiff leaves of the frieze point to an early 19th Century date.
Like all of Europe, Germany was swept up in a passion for á l'antique forms in the early part of the 19th Century, a taste which was promoted in particular by the hugely influential design book Recueil de Décorations Intérieres of Napoleon's favorite architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, which first started to appear in 1801. Similar griffins appear in Percier and Fontaine's designs for the ceiling of Napoleon's bedroom in the Palais des Tuileries and in a commmode made for Mme. de M. in Paris (op. cit., plates 26 and 53).
In Germany, the à l'antique style was enthusiastically embraced by designers such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin, Nikolaus Thouret in Stuttgart and Leo van Klenze in Munich. Two closely related tables from Berlin are recorded, both featuring imposing griffin supports. One formerly in the Stadtschloss Berlin, also shown here, is illustrated in H. Schmitz, Deutsche Möbel des Klassizismus, Stuttgart, 1923, p. 132. A second related table in the Stadtschloss, Potsdam, its design attributed to the noted neo-classical sculptor Gottfried Schadow (who studied in Italy under Canova and was also known for his architectural and ornamental designs), is illustrated in H. Kriesel, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, 1973, vol. III, fig. 293.