Lot 48: A Louis XVI Gilt Bronze Mounted Mahogany Console Desserte Height 33 1/2 x width 61 5/16 x depth 22 inches.

Est: $30,000 USD - $50,000 USDSold:

HindmanChicago, IL, USApril 29, 2015

Item Overview

Description

A Louis XVI Gilt Bronze Mounted Mahogany Console Desserte
attributed to bernard molitor (1755-1833), late 18th century/span
having a later marble top over a frieze drawer and a conforming undertier with fluted tapering supports and a mirrored back, raised on toupie feet.
Height 33 1/2 x width 61 5/16 x depth 22 inches.

Artist or Maker

Bernard Molitor

Condition Report

Sturdy, usable, complete condition. The marbles not original (19th century brocatel de spang) and with two or more broken sections and some losses repaired with plaster. Edges of marble with some roughness. Mounts below marble top with slightly uneven gold patina, darker in areas. Mounts flanking drawer slightly loose; drawer interior with alteration/reinforcement and glue residue (see photos). Lower tier's marble also not original and with a plaster-filled break as well as plaster fillings at the back corners (marble is not shaped/cut to perfectly fit the lower tier). Mirror showing signs of age but also not original; a few cloudy spots. Note that in the additional photos (available upon request), the mirror and rear panel are not attached to the case but they are easily re-attached. Lower front mount in two parts, suggesting possible repair. Back right leg's mounts are loose but stable. A consultant's opinion indicates that the mounts are made by Dominique Daguerre, and that the frieze may be a replacement.

Notes

Property from the Toledo Museum of Art, sold for the benefit of the Art Acquisition Fund

Provenance:
Probably Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812-1870) to his nephew
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild to his wife, Baroness Clarice de Rothschild
Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York, NY, 1967

This console is attributed to Bernard Molitor based on an assessment by Theodore Dell, an "art advisor and historian noted for his expertise in eighteenth-century French furniture, porcelain and decorative arts."

It was first attributed to Adam Weisweiler when it was in the possession of Rosenberg & Stiebel, from whom the museum purchased it using funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Trust in memory of her father, Maurice A. Scott. A memorandum to the documentary file from 1967, shortly after the console was acquired, suggests that the registrar, Mrs. Bentley, believed it could be attributed to Jean-Henri Riesener. She compared the console to a Riesener model up for auction and noted that "while the character and basic design differ, much of the decorative vocabulary resembles our piece." This attribution does not appear to have been pursued further.

Rosenberg & Stiebel purchased the console from the estate of Baroness Clarice de Rothschild in 1967. It is believed to have been restituted to the Baroness sometime after 1949, following its confiscation from her husband, Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, when the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938. An inventory of the Rothschild collection taken in 1938 describes the console as "Spiegeltisch mit eingezogenen Seiten und zwei rosacrème marmorplatten, Rankenbeschläge" (Mirror table with recessed sides and two pink and cream marble slabs, vine fittings). Alphonse de Rothschild is assumed to have inherited the console from his uncle, Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild.

The console may be one of a pair, the other belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession number 26.220.1).

Auction Details

Fine Furniture and Decorative Arts

Hindman

April 29, 2015, 10:00 AM CST

1338 West Lake Street, Chicago, IL, 60607, US

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