CONSULATE PERIOD PEDESTAL TABLE Attributed to Bernard Molitor In mahogany and mahogany veneer, top in Ardennes royal gray marble, the shaft in lacquered wood and partly gilded in imitation bronze, resting on blackened wooden claw feet terminating in casters; minor accidents. H. 79 cm (31 in.) D. 98 cm (38 ½ in.) Provenance: By family tradition, Comte François Marie de Bastard d'Estang (1783-1844). Comparative bibliography : U. Leben, Molitor Ebéniste de Louis XVI à Louis XVIII, Éditions d'Art Monelle Hayot, 1992, p. 165, fig. 114. An Consulat parcel-gilt, ebonised and mahogany gueridon, attributed to Bernard Molitor This type of circular monopod pedestal table, which had existed in Antiquity, reappeared in the aftermath of the French Revolution, in an attempt to imitate the simplicity of Antiquity. In particular, the superimposition of geometric motifs, such as the fleuron inscribed in a rhombus or the stylized palmette adorning the three sides of the shaft, were inspired by Pompeii. The unusual design of the shaft brings our example close to the "Table de Déjeûner" model (cf. fig. 1) from the collection by La Mésangère, Paris, 1802, pl. 49(1). A pedestal table of the same design as ours is attributed to Bernard Molitor (cf. fig. 2) by Professor Ulrich Leben in the monograph he dedicated to the work of this cabinetmaker(2) ; in particular, the carved reliefs on the central foot can be compared to the ornamentation on a Molitor-stamped daybed from the former Lefèvre collection(3). A pedestal table similar to ours sold at Christie's Paris on November 29, 2017, lot 149 (see fig. 3). Finally, we should mention the existence of a model with slight variations in the decoration of the shaft; it is preserved at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (inv. 36218) and is illustrated in M.N. De Grandy, Le Mobilier Français Directoire Consulat et Empire, Massin, Paris, 1996, p. 64. According to family tradition, this pedestal table was part of the furniture of Count François Marie De Bastard d'Estang (1783-1844). The Count was an advisor to the Imperial Court of Paris in 1810, before becoming President of the Court of Lyon in 1815. In 1819, he was appointed Peer of France, and investigated the trial of Louvel, assassin of the Duc de Berry. (1) P.M. Kenny, F.F. Brettet and U. Leben, Honoré Lannuier, Cabinet Maker from Paris, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1998, p. 193, pl. 97. (2) U. Leben, Molitor Ébéniste de Louis XVI à Louis XVIII, Éditions d'Art Monelle Hayot, 1992, p. 165, fig. 114. (3) ibid. p. 204 fig. 156 A.