D'après les dessins de JEAN-CHARLES DELAFOSSE... Lot n° 81

Gilded WOOD CONSOLE Paris, circa 1768 - 1773 Carved and gilded wood ; Montmeyan marble Repaired damages to the marble H. 88.5 cm, W. 113.5 cm, D. 50.5 cm Our carved and gilded wood console of undulating form is decorated on its belts with a frieze of posts. On the front, a detached oak leaf garland in relief unfurls and curls. The tapered, fluted and filleted legs support the table topped with a marble top. The quintessence of the "Greek taste" in vogue in Paris in 1765, this console table is directly inspired by the engravings of the ornamentation artist Jean-Charles Delafosse, whose strong character it has. Jean-Charles Delafosse was first and foremost an architect who knew how to display his originality in ornament. The first known drawing by our ornamentalist dates from 1763. It is a Project for a Pedestal for the King, now kept in the library of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, in Paris. In 1768, Delafosse published one hundred and eight plates which he engraved himself and assembled in ten booklets in a collection entitled Nouvelle iconologie historique ou attributs hiéroglyphiques, qui ont pour objet les quatre éléments, les quatre parties du monde, les quatre saisons et les différentes complexion de l'homme, dédiée aux artistes par Ch. Delafosse, architecte, décorateur et professeur de dessins, Paris 1768. At first it included a series of trophies characterized by a severe neoclassical style. From then on, Delafosse never ceased to complete his work by including additional notebooks that allowed him to express himself in all areas of interior design and decorative arts. He multiplied the number of models of furniture, seats, lamps, vases and objects of all kinds which considerably inspired the production of artists and craftsmen. Delafosse's greatest virtue was his imagination, which even led him to give his creations fanciful names, such as "papote en gondole", "convalescente" or "d'obligeante" to designate a shepherdess, or "veilleuse à la turque". Delafosse was one of the main initiators of this Greek taste that was all the rage in Paris in 1765: he influenced a number of ornamentalists of the LouisXVI period, such as Mathieu Liard, Boucher Fils, Jean-François Forty, Lalonde, Prieur and Aubert Parent. In his Journal, Guienne, who knew him well, wrote in 1787: "His imagination in architecture could be compared to that of Milton in poetry, he is more of a painter than an architect.