REGENCY PERIOD CONSOLE TABLE Carved and gilded wood, Flanders marble top, the belt decorated in the centre with a sunflower inscribed in a cartouche flanked by dragons and foliate scrolls, the console legs joined by an X-shaped brace decorated on the front with a shell and surmounted by a sunflower. H. 83 cm (32 ¾ in.) l. 137 cm (54 in.) P. 72 cm (28 ¼ in.) A Regence giltwood console Made towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV or during the early years of the Regency, this console table still retains hints of the post-1700 Louis-Quatorzian style. The perfect symmetry of the central clasp and the scrolls below the belt, as well as the shape of the crosspieces of the brace, all recall the compositions of the tables and consoles of the Louis XIV period. The quality of its workmanship and the richness of its ornamental vocabulary mean that it can be compared with the work of the decorative wood artists who worked for the Crown. The sculptors Jules Degoullons (c.1671-1738), André Legoupil (1660/5-1733), Martin Bellan (†1714) and Pierre Taupin (c.1692-1739) founded the Société pour les Bâtiments du Roi (Society for the King's Buildings) on 21 January 1699, whose primary aim was to work for the sovereign, princes and princesses of the blood, and the principal members of the royal family, but who over time also executed works for the nobility, great lords and financiers. Unfortunately, as is usually the case with gilded wood furniture, unless there is a precise indication of origin, such as the consoles for the Palais Royal for example, which are known thanks to drawings made at the same time as they were made, it is almost impossible to find them in the inventories of the Ancien Régime.