A PAIR OF EMPIRE ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY CONSOLES

With its architectural, elegant, yet simple lines, these richly-mounted mahogany console tables are characteristic of the work of Bernard Molitor, maître in 1787. Active from the Ancien Régime until circa 1818, Molitor produced neo-classical furniture adorned with classically-inspired motifs before gradually introducing ornaments and shapes of the then fashionable Empire style. Two closely related console tables by Molitor are illustrated in U. Leben, Molitor, Ebéniste from the Ancien Régime to the Bourbon Restoration, New York, 1992, p.99, fig. 95 and p.194, fig. 90. A third single console which shares similar female busts is illustrated in Bernard Molitor 1755-1833, ex. cat. Galerie d'art de la ville de Luxembourg- Villa Vauban, 1995, Luxembourg, p. 93, fig 7. A pair of burr elm consoles attributed to Molitor was sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 10 July 2008, lot 137 (£46,850).