A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND SATINE TEA TABLE

Among the most renowned makers of the century, Escalier de Cristal was founded in Paris in 1802 by Madame veuve Barthélemy Désarnaud (d. 1842), and was the first to construct furniture in crystal. The firm later supplied luxury furnishings and decorations to Europe's most important families and, in the second half of the 19th century, began reproducing well-known models from the 18th century which were renowned for their quality of execution. The present table, with its serpentine form, sinuous dolphin supports and playfully dripping barnacles on the upper tier, recalls the goût Louis XV while simultaneously embracing the whimsicality and exuberance of the Belle Époque.