PAIR OF HEMICYCLE CONSOLES Italy, late 18th century Carved,... Lot 96

PAIR OF HEMICYCLE CONSOLES Italy, late 18th century Carved, gilded and painted wood; scagliola trays H. 89.5 cm, W. 143.5 cm, D. 65 cm Very richly carved in their original gilding, this pair of Italian neoclassical half-moon consoles are distinguished by their exceptional scagliola trays executed in imitation of antique red porphyry with a wide front border with a lapis background and polychrome motifs on a gold background. The gilded wood base displays a very rich carved decoration with moulded borders and a frieze of stylised palmettes each resting on two small scrolled volutes. Four tapered legs with twisted flutes, punctuated with rings and leafy corollas, support the whole, ending in claws. The two front legs are punctuated by an imposing eagle with outstretched wings. The two consoles rest on a pedestal with small circular feet, with curved fronts and doucine borders adorned with friezes of scalloped leaves. The terrace is painted with a faux marble. The use of the eagle with outstretched wings, allegory of Jupiter, whose thunderbolts adorn the belt of each console, symbols of power, was used in Italy during the neoclassical period, particularly in Rome and in the Marche. Similar eagles adorn, for example, a console beside which stands Cardinal Andrea Archett i, depicted in a painting dating from 1787 and now in a private collection (fi g.1). They are also found on three consoles reproduced in Enrico Colle's Il Mobile Neoclassico in Italia, one monopod made in a Roman workshop (fi g.2), the other two, in carved and painted wood, made in a workshop in the Marches and preserved in the Pinacoteca di Piceno (fi g.3 and 4).