A Régence carved giltwood console table second quarter 18th century, possibly German, together with a later copy

each with a later rectangular portor marble top with rounded corners, the frieze centered by a mask flanked by pierced acanthus leaf scrolls, raised on curved supports carved with satyrs' masks, acanthus leaves and scrolls raised on hoof feet joined by similarly scrolled and carved stretchers.



With French & Co. inventory numbers 58401

French & Co., New York

Some of the impetus for furniture made in Munich and in Ansbach in the early 18th century century arose from the enthusiasm of the Prince-Elector Max-Emmanuel for French taste, fashion and style.  Max Emmanuel had been exiled in Paris from 1705-1715, on his return to Munich he aggressively sought to attract French craftsmen to work in Munich and also sent his own craftsmen to train in Paris.   Ansbach, an artistic center in the South of Germany was also very much influenced by Paris, and by Munich.  A recurring motif found on furniture made in both centers is the satyr's head with long ears, as carved in the corners on the present tables. 

An unattributed drawing of a console carved at the corners with satyrs' masks is in the Residenz, Würzburg. illustrated, Kreisel & Himmelheber, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, Munich, 1973, Vol. II, fig. 508.  A console table in the Residenz, Munich, attributed to Johann Adam Pichler (d. 1761) after a design by Joseph Effner (d.1745) incorporates similarly shaped supports which are carved with a female mask almost identical to the central mask on the present tables, see, Brigitte Langer, Die Möbel der Residenz München, Vol. II, Munich, 1996, p. 134, no. 25.

 

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