CIRCA 1760, IN THE MANNER OF PIERRE CONTANT D'IVRY

With its elongated sinuous design incorporating carved shell motifs and cabochons, this table relates closely to the work of Pierre Contant d'Ivry (1698-1777) of the mid-1750s, at the Palais Royal in Paris and the Palais Bernstorff in Copenhagen (Svend Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, pp. 42-43, figs. 22-27). The symmetry in the rococo forms and frozen quality of the curves are characteristic of the rocaille symmetrisé, first evident in 1748-’49, as discussed by B. Pallot, L’Art du Siège, Paris, 1989, p. 132. This style would then further develop into the so-called Classical symmetrical rococo, preceding the beginning of neo-classicism, and the present table has elements of both stylistic phases. Two related console tables, with similar sinuous shapes to the present example, are illustrated in B. Pallot, ibid. pp. 154-155.