Adrian Alan
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A Louis XVI Style Amethyst and Marble-Topped Centre Table in the Manner of Adam Weisweiller ( 1890 )
| Dimensions: | 100.00cm wide 79.00cm high 61.00cm deep (39.37 inches wide 31.10 inches high 24.02 inches deep) |
| Description: |
A Louis XVI Style Ormolu-Mounted Mahogany, Amethyst and Marble-Topped Centre-Table in the Manner of Adam Weisweiller. The rectangular top inset with amethyst panels framed by a border of rouge griotte marble with an acanthus-cast rim, above a frieze with central panel mounted with winged sphinxes amongst scrolls concealing a drawer to one side, flanked by panels of ribbon-tied foliate and fruit swags and acanthus patera, the sides each with winged sphinxes amongst scrolls, on square tapering legs headed by capitals and mounted with fruiting vines, joined by a shaped stretcher centred with a pierced basket.
The design for this table is closely related to a dressing table by Adam Weisweiller (1744-1820) supplied by him to the marchand-mercier Daguerre in 1784 for Marie-Antoinette's cabinet intérieur at the Château de Saint-Cloud. This table was copied by various Nineteenth Century makers faithfully reproducing the finesse of the gilt-bronzes. Empress Eugénie in 1865 acquired the original table from the Prince de Beauvau (d. 1864) and placed it in the salon bleu in the Tuileries where she gave audiences. The table is now in the Musée du Louvre and illustrated by D. Alcouffe, p. 289, no. 97. The mounts on the original table were chased and gilded by the doreur François Rémond. The key difference to this example, other than the distinctive amethyst top, is that the legs are headed by stepped capitals, as opposed to basket- bearing caryatids. Adam Weisweiler was German-born. Although scholars know nothing about his apprenticeship and early training, records show that he was established in Paris in 1777, the year he was married. He became a maître-ébéniste in 1778, and set up his workshop in the unfashionable quarter of Paris on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and worked mainly for the marchands-merciers. These middlemen, such as Dominique Daguerre, would then sell Weisweiler's works to members of the French court, including Queen Marie-Antoinette, the king of Naples, and England's Prince Regent (later George IV). |
| Literature: |
Alcouffe D., Dion-Tennenbaum A., Lefebure A., Le mobilier du musée du Louvre, t.1, Dijon, Editions Faton, 1993, p 288- 291.
Pradere A., Les ébénistes Français de Louis XV à la Révolution, Paris, Edtions Le Chêne, 1989, p 389. |
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