One of a Pair of Console Tables

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One of a Pair of Console Tables

Designer Lorenzo de Ferrari (Italian (Genoa), 1680-1744)

Place of OriginGenoa, Italy

Dateabout 1742-1744

Dimensions34 1/2 x 48 in. (87.5 x 121.9 cm)

Mediumgilded gesso over wood, marble top

ClassificationFurniture

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

Object number

1978.31

Not on View

Label TextOriginally made for the Galleria Dorata (Gilded Gallery) in the Palazzo Carrega-Cataldi, now home to the Chamber of Commerce in Genoa, Italy, this richly decorated table and its companion elsewhere in this gallery represent the transition from the grand style of the Baroque to the exuberant influence of the French Rococo. The scrolling legs and sensuous, curving shapes add to the sense of movement, while the female satyrs grasping two precariously balanced cherub figures demonstrate the sculptural vigor typical of Italian furniture of this period. The table was originally placed in a recess against a wall beneath a mirror. Mirrors were used to create an atmosphere of spaciousness and to unify the room’s decorative scheme. The furnishings beneath them were linked in form and decoration to the mirror’s frame, which, in turn, was related to other decoration in the room. The multiplicity of gilding and curving forms reflected in the mirrors, along with flickering candlelight, would further increase the room’s overall impact—a taste of which is offered by these spectacular tables.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 197, repr. (col.).