Grand French Empire Mahogany Gilt Bronze Mounted Console Table of Extremely Large Scale

A Very Fine and Extremely Large Mahogany Empire Period Console Dessert With Finely Cast Gilt Bronze Mounts French Paris Circa 1815-25 The present piece of furniture is rather hard to describe. It could be described as console table but it is of particularly grand, large scale and is considerably wider than most other pieces of this type. Other pieces of this sort have been described as open bookcases which is also functionally true of course so this is a rather versatile piece of furniture with great presence and of exquisite quality. The piece consists of two shelves and an undertier, all veneered in mahogany of exceptional figuring and great colour which has been bookmatched for maximum dramatic effect. The sides of the piece are open but there are tapering columnar pilasters, mounted with beautifully cast and chased gilt bronze capital and base mounts, which like the upper frieze to the apron or undertier at the base. Above the capitals on the columns are additional bronze gilt mounts featuring vases of flowers above swags and garlands and then in the centre of the frieze is a very large mount featuring a central floral patera surrounded by very naturalistic swags of flowers and leaves. In typical Empire fashion, there is very little in the way of carved detail although the piece does feature a finely moulded section above the frieze which supports an old replacement grey-veined beige and pink marble top. There are certain stylistic elements of this piece that relate to the work of Franois-Honor-Georges Jacob Desmalter (1770-1841) but the mounts on our piece, with their naturalistic inspiration rather than more austere classical symbolism, are not what one would expect to see on a piece by that firm. Nonetheless the quality of the present piece is such that it must have been produced in one of the leading Parisian workshops of the period. A piece like this can fulfil many functions in the modern home, from a grand sideboard or dessert table in a large dining room to being the centrepiece of a home office as a beautiful and exotic bookcase or being used as a side table in a hallway. A very attractive and extremely well-made piece of fine French furniture of amazing scale. Width: 70 inches - 178cm Height: 49 inches - 124cm Depth: 19 inches - 48cm