Inventing the console

This console table belongs to the very earliest phase of the emergence of the console as an autonomous piece of furniture, at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, circa 1680–1700. Conceived entirely as part of the architectural décor, the console was initially integrated into wall paneling and designed to accompany the rise of large pier glasses. It functioned as a point of articulation between architecture and movable furnishings, intended to support precious objects while reinforcing the visual rhythm of the interior. Examples from this formative period are rare, making this console an important witness to the moment when the type was first defined.



An example of the Louis XIV taste

The taste of the Louis XIV period is fully expressed in the conception of this work. The structure follows a strictly frontal logic, conceived to be viewed against the wall, while the composition adopts an inverted pyramidal rhythm characteristic of late 17th-century French ornamental design. The supporting elements are no longer reduced to architectural terms or herms, as in earlier consoles, but take the form of fully sculpted sirens with intertwined double tails. This solution reflects the increasing ambition of ornamental sculpture at the end of the reign, when furniture became a privileged field for sculptural invention. The rich repertory of marine motifs—sirens, shells, coral and scrolling foliage—echoes the vocabulary disseminated at court through engravings by Jean Bérain and Jean Lepautre, whose designs established a grammar in which fantastical figures played both a decorative and a structural role.

The originality of the model lies precisely in this fusion of sculpture and architecture. The sirens do not merely ornament the console; their bodies constitute its very support, transforming the piece into a true sculptural ensemble. Such a conception reflects the collaborative nature of artistic production under Louis XIV, involving architects, ornamental designers and sculptors, and demonstrates how furniture participated fully in the grand decorative schemes of the period. Comparable compositions appear in contemporary engravings and interior views, notably in representations of the Galerie des Glaces, where consoles supported by marine creatures are shown bearing objects of display.



An italian influence

Beyond its French courtly context, the console also reveals a clear Italian influence. From the mid-17th century onward, ornamental inventions circulated intensively between Rome, Florence and Paris through prints and the movement of artists. The use of sirens or tritons as structural supports finds close parallels in Italian projects attributed to Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615-1674) and Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725), as well as in Roman Baroque sculpture, most famously Bernini’s Fontana del Tritone. These Italian models favor powerful marine figures whose bodies generate dynamic scrolls and support architectural elements. The present console translates this Mediterranean imagery into a distinctly French syntax, more linear and controlled, but unmistakably indebted to Italian Baroque invention.



As such, this console stands at a crossroads: one of the earliest manifestations of a new furniture type, deeply rooted in the ornamental language of Louis XIV, yet enriched by Italian models that expanded the expressive possibilities of sculpture in furniture. Both architectural and sculptural, it exemplifies the creative intensity of the late 17th century and the emergence of the console as a key element of the grand interior.