Description
The French table was transformed during the Renaissance. Inspired by Italy in its form and decorations, it was born in the melting pot of the Fontainebleau School, where architects and ornamentalists such as Jacques Androuet du Cerceau and Hugues Sambin were trained. Both a ceremonial table and a “piece of sculpture”, it marked “one of the summits of furniture in France.” Jacque Thirion.
Elegant and typically Lyonnaise, this exceptional table is composed of a frame formed of two feet with scrolled skates connected by a box spacer. Its top extends thanks to its new extension mechanism, a French or Flemish invention.
The stylistically architectural references warmly evoke the facades of castles or palaces.
The curved belt is decorated with a frieze of billets and inverted palmettes. It rests on seven feet. At the corners, four feet sculpted in a fluted column, are topped with an Ionic capital decorated with a median fleuron.
Under the belt at the ends, an apron with two semicircular arches, molded with eyelets and topped with well-designed bricks, are separated by a cul-de-lamp in the shape of a sculpted top, and join the feet on scrolling consoles.
An H-shaped spacer supports the other three feet, treated as fans with shell and scroll patterns.
The perfect proportions, the choice of patterns, the harmonious layout and the elegance of the treatment make it a quality piece and call for comparison with other models of typically Lyonnais furniture and of ultramontane inspiration.
This table with its extraordinary finesse of execution is in a remarkable state of conservation; indeed few tables