An exceptional German Régence, carved, giltwood console probably inspired after designs by François Cuvilliés in Munich, Germany. The console is pierced and finely carved with flowers, leaves, cartouches, and figures on each side. A “rouge royal” marble sits on the shaped top of the console. Scroll legs connected by stretchers with rear baluster supports rest on a yoke-shaped pedestal.

This is a very important console of perfect quality and elegance. It is illustrated in J. Miller’s, Furniture – World Styles from Classical to Contemporary, London, 2005, p. 71. During the first half of the 18th century, the Bavarian Rococo was aligned almost entirely with Parisian court furniture. With prototypes and drawings by Cuvilliés, who after 1716 worked for the Munich Building Office, the Bavarian Metropolis experienced an artistic movement. New forms and decoration of furniture, originally conceived as a part of a larger interior design concept, distinguishes itself through generous, elegant designs and exceptionally strong naturalistic carving.

The prominent design of this console with the impressive masks supports the legs with detail figural motifs often found in the designs of Cuvilliés. They also resemble elements of a splendid console that was probably finished by W. Miroffsky in the 1730s and is today in the Munich Residenz. Several commodes in the Archbishop’s Palace in Munich, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Munich Residenz show very similar elements. The form of this console can be seen in various, similarly constructed consoles in the Munich Residenz which were made during the 1730s after designs by Cuvilliés and, likewise, finished by Miroffsky. This console reveals through the refined construction with pedestal base the innovative design vocabulary of Cuvilliés, who disengaged himself from classical forms and created new forms.

François Cuvilliés

François Cuvilliés (1695-1768) was born near Brussels. Being of small stature, he entered the service of Maximilian II Emanuel, the elector of Bavaria, as a court dwarf when he was 11. The elector arranged for him to learn math and engineering before sending him to study architecture in Paris. While in Paris, he was under the influence of François Blondel from whom he learned the new French, Rococo style. When he returned to Munich, Cuvilliés was appointed court architect of Bavaria and became one of the leading exponents of the Rococo style in Germany.

Vetted Antique Shows/Fairs
The International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show, New York, NY, 2008
Palm Beach | America’s International Fine Art and Antiques Fair, West Palm Beach, FL, 2007

Provenance
Munich, Germany
Private Collection, Switzerland
Mary Helen McCoy Fine Antiques, Charleston, South Carolina