Console Table

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Console Table

DesignerAttributed to Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (French, 1672-1742)

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1720

DimensionsH: 34 in.; W: 72 in.; Depth: 32 in.

MediumGilded gesso over oak, marble top

ClassificationFurniture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1958.9

Not on View

DescriptionDragons on legs and stretchers; satyr mask on skirt.

Label TextThis elaborate table seems to imitate metalwork, though it is actually made of carved and gilded wood. The Sun King, Louis XIV (ruled 1643-1715), had a remarkable set of silver furniture made for his palace at Versailles. Though melted down in 1689, the furniture continued to exert a strong influence on wood furniture design into the 1700s. The openings in the legs of this table where the dragons come through—more easily achieved in metalwork, but a tour-de-force of woodworking—create a delicate balance between ornament and structural strength, since the table must bear the weight of the heavy marble top.