280 - ~ SPHINX CONSOLE TABLE

~ SPHINX CONSOLE TABLE Rectangular, made of mahogany and mottled mahogany veneer, resting on two front legs shaped like sphinxes with women’s bodies, carved in the round, lacquered green, and accented with gilding. The figures, wearing headbands and adorned with scalloped sashes, have outstretched wings that extend to the rear legs. Their faces feature idealized features, and their garments have delicately carved folds and acanthus leaf motifs. The rear posts frame a mirrored back panel and rest, along with the sphinxes, on a solid rectangular plinth. The band, adorned with two (attached) laurel wreaths in gilded bronze, is surmounted by a black marble top veined with white. Marked by Pierre-Benoît Marcion (1769–1840). France, Empire period, circa 1805–1815. Height: 96 cm - Width: 122 cm - Depth: 48.5 cm. (Good overall condition; added elements; restorations). Swietenia mahagoni (II/B). Pre-Convention specimen. Provenance: – Auction in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, December 15, 1997, Auctioneers Pescheteau-Badin, Godeau, Leroy, and de Ricqlès, lot 195. – Acquired from Leclercq Antiquités, Prouzel. – Private collection. Bibliography: – Jean-Pierre Planchon, *Marcion, ébéniste de Napoléon*, entry no. 249/C/24, featuring a reproduction and description of this console table. Description: This console table is a remarkable example of the art of Pierre-Benoît Marcion, one of the leading Parisian cabinetmakers of the First Empire, whose work is distinguished in particular by the quality of his carved wood and the originality of his ornamental repertoire. In the publication devoted to Marcion’s work, the author compares the caryatids on our console to those on a bronze console attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, housed in the Louvre Museum, as well as to designs adopted by Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine and Charles Percier in imperial decor. A connection is also highlighted with the figures used by François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter and by the bronze castor François-Joseph Feuchère in prestigious furnishings of the early 19th century. The presence of four Marcion marks beneath the marble, the finesse of the figures’ execution, and the relative rarity of these sphinx-adorned consoles make this piece a particularly representative example of this cabinetmaker’s ambitious output during the Empire.