Tripod guéridon in mahogany, stamped Martin Carlin and JME

A tripod guéridon in mahogany and mahogany veneer with gilt bronze mounts. Inspired by English fashion, this elegant circular table is encircled by a pierced gilt bronze gallery. The central shaft, fluted and filled with gilt bronze asparagus motifs, is tightened by a thick ring of laurel leaves forming the junction with the base.

The base consists of three sinuous legs adorned with chutes, small flowers, and ending in lion’s paw feet on castors. This type of guéridon, characteristic of the end of the reign of Louis XVI, can notably be found at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where a similar model displays the same features: the use of mahogany, a wide top, a fluted shaft with bronze decoration, chutes on the tripod base, and castors for ease of movement.

Louis XVI period.

Condition consistent with use.

Dimensions: H. 83 cm x D. 84 cm

Martin Carlin was one of the most important Parisian cabinetmakers of the last third of the 18th century. Born in Germany, he settled in Paris in 1759 and married one of the sisters of Jean-François Oeben, the renowned ébéniste-mécanicien to Louis XV.

After becoming a master, he established his workshop in the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and quickly achieved considerable success. This reputation was closely linked to his privileged commercial relationships with Simon-Philippe Poirier, one of the foremost dealers in luxury objects and furniture of the time. Through Poirier, Carlin produced between 1766 and 1778 his most luxurious pieces adorned with Sèvres porcelain plaques. From the mid-1770s onwards, he increasingly favored furniture decorated with Japanese lacquer panels. His posthumous inventory reveals that he worked exclusively for the leading marchands-merciers of his time; in 1785, the sons Darnault and Dominique Daguerre were among his principal clients.