REGENCY PERIOD CONSOLE Carved and gilded wood, Flanders marble top, the belt decorated in the center with a sunflower inscribed in a cartouche flanked by dragons and foliate scrolls, the console legs joined by an X-shaped brace decorated in the front with a shell and surmounted by a sunflower. H.:83 cm (32 ¾ in.) l.:137 cm (54 in.) P.:72 cm (28 ¼ in.) A Regence giltwood console Made towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV or during the early years of the Regency, this console still retains reminiscences of the post-1700 Louis-Quatorzian style. The perfect symmetry of the central clasp and the scrolls below the belt, as well as the shape of the crosspieces, all recall the compositions of tables and consoles from the Louis XIV period. The quality of its execution and the richness of its ornamental vocabulary mean that it can be compared with the work of the decorative wood artists who worked for the Crown. Indeed, the sculptors Jules Degoullons (c.1671-1738), André Legoupil (1660/5-1733), Martin Bellan (†1714) and Pierre Taupin (c.1692-1739) founded, on January 21, 1699, the Société pour les Bâtiments du Roi (Society for the King's Buildings), whose primary aim was to work for the sovereign, princes and princesses of the blood, and the principal members of the royal family, but who over time also executed works for the nobility, great lords and financiers. Alas, as is usual with gilded wood furniture, unless there is a precise indication of provenance, such as that of the consoles for the Palais Royal for example, known from drawings contemporary with their manufacture, it is almost impossible to find them in the inventories of the Ancien Régime.