console table

console table , 1700s

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: wood; gilding; marble

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 81.6 x 100.3 x 45.7 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 32 1/8 x 39 1/2 x 18 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1955.0071

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Empire of Things," 2013, Kate Meyer
European fascination with objects from China eventually inspired Europeans to manufacture of objects in an imagined Chinese manner. These flirtations with Chinese design coincided with a French ornamental idiom derived from the shell-like forms in the grottos at Versailles (rocaille, in French). When these two tributaries merged, the imagined Chinese manner and the rocaille-like forms that gave "rococo" its name, the resulting hybrid style was dubbed Chinoiserie in French (we might say "Chinese-esque").

Archive Label 1999:
This richly decorated table was designed during the reign of Louis XV and is similar to those that lined the long galleries of the royal palace at Versailles. Typically, a console was placed between two windows or under a large wall mirror.