Overall in very good condition with original marble top. Marble with some chips, abrasions and scattered areas of infill to surface. Sculptural carving and gilding in good condition. Gilding refreshed in areas throughout. Gilding now with rubbing and wear; some chips and some cracks to gesso. Some restored cracks to apron. Stretcher now with screws at both joins to secure restored fracture cracks or breaks. Part of foliate branch in hand of putto partially later. some minor parts of carving also possibly recarved. All wear consistent with age and use. Extremely attractive, dynamic design, good overall condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Although this console table does not appear to directly derive from currently recorded and published drawings, it certainly reflects and incorporates the spirit of contemporaneous projects executed by such masters as François Cuvilliés, Johann Peter Wagner and Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt. The complex composition executed in masterful carving certainly suggests that this lot was conceived by one of the most illustrious designers of the mid-eighteenth century and was manufactured by one of the most skillful German
menuisiers of the time. The overall shape, balanced proportions and design elements relate this console table to the
oeuvre of the designer and furniture-maker François Cuvilliés, and especially to the work he executed for the Residenz in Munich. There are a number of comparable carved giltwood console tables in the Residenz that are either documented to be by or are firmly attributed to Cuvilliés, see Brigitte Langer and Alexander Herzog von Württemberg
, Die Möbel der Residenz München: Die deutschen Möbel des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1996, pp. 139, 144, 151 and 155, Nos. 27, 28, 31 and 32, respectively. The lot offered here shares many defining characteristics with the above tables with the most striking being the robust apron centered by a female mask, the crawling dragon figures at the corners and the putto seated on the stretcher. Of all the tables discussed by Langer and von Württemberg, those most similar to the lot offered here are the set of four in the
Reiche Zimmer of the Residenz with basically identical dragon figures and very similar outcurling acanthus leaves that bisect the legs. Although the stretchers of these tables do not match the stretcher of the present table, the seated putto is analogous with that found on a large console attributed to Cuvilliés, see
ibid., p. 139. Another similarity this lot shares with other Cuvilliés tables is the feet carved with volutes. For a console table with basically identical feet, see Heinrich Kreisel,
Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, Munich, 1970, vol. II, fig. 427. Cuvilliés’ pieces were executed at the court atelier and by some of the most skilled and praised carvers, such as Joachim Dietrich and Wenzeslaus Miroffsky. The high quality and the precision of the carving of the present lot suggests that this table was manufactured by one of the more renowned
menusiers and possibly at the royal workshops
Besides the design’s attribution to François Cuvilliés, what makes the lot offered here particularly rare is the presence of the original Tegernsee marble top. As a local marble mined south of Munich commodes, Tegernsee marble traditionally topped tables and console tables supplied to the Wittelsbach court. Unfortunately, existing console tables by Cuvilliés all seem to have lost their original tops during the bombings of Munich and its Residenz in World War II and it is extremely rare to find a German Rococo table of such high quality with its original marble.
François Cuvilliés (1695-1768) was one of the leading German rococco architects and designers in the 18th century. He became Court architect in Munich in 1728 and was responsible for the interiors in the Residenz, Munich (in 1729-37) and the Amalienburg in the Park of Nymphenburg near Munich (1734-39). From 1738 until his death he published a series of engravings of designs for ornament, boiseries and furniture sometimes derived from the publications of Lajoue and other French contemporaries.
