285 - IMPORTANT CONSOLE TABLE WITH WINGED GRIFFINS

IMPORTANT CONSOLE TABLE WITH WINGED GRIFFINS in gilded wood. The rectangular base, with lateral projections, is topped by front legs featuring seated griffins; the rear legs are in the form of fluted pilasters connected by a mirrored back panel. The rectangular frieze is decorated with palmettes and laurel wreaths in relief. The tops are made of white marble. Attributed to François-Honoré-Georges Jacob, known as Jacob-Desmalter (1770–1841), based on a drawing attributed to Charles Percier (1764–1838). Height: 96.5 cm - Width: 12 cm - Depth: 51.5 cm. (some chips and missing pieces, wear to the gilding, restorations) Provenance: – Acquired from Henri Vanhoenacker, an antique dealer in Brussels. – Private collection. Description: This imposing console table with winged griffins is part of the neoclassical repertoire developed during the First Empire by Charles Percier (1764–1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853), whose designs were notably interpreted by the workshops of François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770–1841). Its design is closely related to a proposed console table featuring two winged griffins, known from a drawing attributed to Charles Percier, circa 1810, and reproduced in the catalog *Les Feuchère, dynastie de fondeurs, 1785–1840*, Galerie André Lemaire, Paris, June 1998, no. 25, p. 31. It also bears close similarities in construction and ornamentation to the console table executed in 1809 by Jacob-Desmalter’s workshop for Empress Joséphine’s grand salon at the Tuileries Palace, now housed in the Louvre Museum [Inv. No. OA 9595]. The latter similarly rests on two carved supports depicting winged creatures, combined with a wide band adorned with plant motifs and an architectural base.