Louis XVI style console table in wood and Breccia Pontificia marble, 20th century

Archived

Write to the Seller

Buyer protection

SILVER Seller in Prato, Italy

Follow this seller

Explore Seller's Store

100 % Positive feedback

Item description

Elegant and refined French console table in Louis XVI style in gilded wood; the front band has rich and refined decorations; under it are cascading light and soft floral garlands; the two legs carved with grooves are joined at the bottom by a curved crossbar in the middle of which is a turned decoration in the form of a knob; the top is made of marble of excellent quality Breccia Pontificia. This splendid object, a sober masterpiece of the Louis XVI style, was created in a workshop near Paris between 1920 and 1925. All the precious decorations on the console table were made of pastille. The manufacture of pastille, the fruit of an ancient craft tradition, originated in Italy at the end of the 15th century, remained in use for much of the 17th century and continued into the 19th century. The pastille was made from a mixture of chalk (calcium carbonate), vegetable resins-glue, honey, linseed oil and often marble dust. A layer of fabric was glued to the wooden support and then several layers of pastille were applied, which was then impressed or engraved or finely modelled (see photo example), usually the decorative motifs were in bas-relief, then the whole thing was left to harden and finally, gilding was applied with very thin gold leaves. This fascinating working method is no longer practised, there is only one company in the world that still carries it out on frames: Studio Rufus Cavalli & Poli Frames in Carpenedolo (Brescia). The Breccia Pontificia is a very special and fascinating marble, nature has given it a rare composition of colours, it has large and seductive dark veins, it is extracted from the marble quarries of Custonaci (Sicily-Italy), in the same site of the ancient Jasper of Sicily, the Breccia Pontificia finds its greatest diffusion during the Italian and European baroque period. The churches of Rome in that period are full of works made with this stone and many historical documents of the time show that it was the stone preferred by Bernini who used it in many of his works: one of the most beautiful is the tomb of Pope Urban VIII in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Vanvitelli used it in the Royal Palace of Caserta in the walls of the hallway, the same use we find in the Royal Palace of Naples. Historical documents of the time report the sale of blocks of Papal Breccia also in France. The console is in excellent condition. It measures width cm.54, depth cm.27, height cm.82. For all our shipments we use special packaging materials (wooden crates, polystyrene, etc.) for maximum protection and safety of the objects.

ID: 4672-1647098641-34944