REGENCY PERIOD CONSOLE TABLE In carved and gilded wood, top in red Rance marble, the belt decorated in the centre with an allegorical mask representing Hercules in the guise of a satyr, the curved uprights surmounted by masks and ending in leafy claws, the spacer punctuated with stylised birds and decorated in the centre with a mask of a faun wearing feathers and sticking out his tongue; small accidents. H. 81 cm (31 ¾ in.) l. 167 cm (65 ¾ in.) P. 76 cm (29 ¾ in.) Provenance: Sale in Paris, Me Poulain-Le Fur, 20 June 2000, lot 48 ; Galerie Gismondi, Paris (according to Calin Demetrescu); Tajan sale, Paris, 3 July 2024, lot 167; Acquired during the latter sale by the current owner; Paris private collection. Bibliography: C. Demetrescu, Le style Régence, Les éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2003, p. 73, fig. 50 (reproduced). A Regence giltwood console Made at the beginning of the Regency period, this console retains hints of the Louis-Quatorzian style typical of the years after 1700. It is characterised by a remarkable anthropomorphic decoration: the smiling mascaron in the centre of the apron clasp is followed by a mask topped with palmettes "à l'indienne" on the brace, while mascarons of bearded men follow the curve of each upright, recalling elements inspired by architectural decoration or the bronzes of cabinetwork. In terms of the quality of its execution and the richness of its ornamental vocabulary, it can be compared with the work of decorators working for the Crown. On 21 January 1699, the sculptors Degoullons, Bellan, Roumier and Legoupil founded the Société pour les Bâtiments du Roi. Their primary objective was to work for the sovereign, the princes and princesses of the blood and the principal members of the royal family. Over time, however, they also created works for the nobility, great lords and financiers. The anthropomorphic masks that adorn our console table can be compared with the drawings of "consoles and mascarons for frame borders, wall brackets and table legs" by Mathieu Legoupil, kept at the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin (cf. B. Pons, De Paris à Versailles, pl. 370-374), which feature around fifteen male mascarons with various expressions very similar to those found on our example (cf. fig. 1). Masks similar to those on the brace of our piece can be found on a number of consoles from the same period, in particular the example from the former George Gould collection, sold at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, on 5 April 2017, lot 150, the console sold at Sotheby's New York on 18 May 2006, lot 783, or the one sold at Sotheby's New York. As for the mascarons on the uprights, they can be found, with slight variations, on a pair of consoles from the former Ribolzi collection, sold at Sotheby's Paris on 30 November 2011, lot 52, or on a middle table (see fig. 2) in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (see G. Janneau, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paul Hartmann Editeur, Paris, 1952, pl. 26-27).