Console Table
Artist: Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
Date: about 1863-1864
Dimensions:
H: 42 7/8 in.; W (top): 63 in.; Depth (top): 22 3/4 in.
Medium: Bronze and ormolu, Breccalito marble, onyx
Classification: Furniture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 1960.32
Label Text:Designed as one of a matching set of four, this luxurious console table adorned the Grand Salon of the Marquise de Païva’s palatial townhouse on the Champs Élysée in Paris. The marquise, known simply as La Païva, was one of the famous—and infamous—courtesans of France’s Second Empire (1852–70). She was known for the extravagance of her lifestyle, embodied in the furnishings and design of her Paris home. In the 1870s she hosted inspiring salons, lively gatherings of artists, writers, and politicians, including Antonin Proust, whose portrait by Edouard Manet hangs in Gallery 33.
Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was a leader in the revival of 18th-century elegance in design (see also his sculpture Hebe and the Eagle of Jupiter in this gallery). The sculptures of young men holding up the tabletop, however, are based on the elongated, twisting figures of 16th-century Mannerism (see, for example, Primaticcio’s Ulysses and Penelope, Gallery 22).
Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was a leader in the revival of 18th-century elegance in design (see also his sculpture Hebe and the Eagle of Jupiter in this gallery). The sculptures of young men holding up the tabletop, however, are based on the elongated, twisting figures of 16th-century Mannerism (see, for example, Primaticcio’s Ulysses and Penelope, Gallery 22).
On view
In Collection(s)