Offered by Tobogan Antiques
Stamped G. DURAND
Beautiful pair of display pedestals in mottled mahogany, adorned with chiseled and gilded bronze in a neoclassical Louis XVI style. The rectangular top, bordered by a moldings, is accentuated by four acanthus-leaf clasps resting on a chamfered entablature. The main face is decorated with a central cartouche framed by a pearl frieze, featuring, on either side of a fire pot, two facing sphinxes whose tails extend into acanthus scrolls adorned with delicate vine tendrils and pearl friezes. The beveled corners are embellished with fluted bands featuring ivy leaves and draped fire pots set against a background of Greek motifs; they are extended at the bottom by serrated fluting ending in four lion’s claws terminating in acanthus leaves. They rest on a four-lobed base with toupie feet.
This type of furniture, whose primary function was to display luxurious ceremonial objects, experienced significant growth in the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIV. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, following the Rococo period—which was then considered too extravagant—tastes returned to the French classicism of the Grand Siècle. This interest was linked to the fashion for mahogany, inherited from Great Britain, which enjoyed great popularity from the late 18th century onward and continued into the 19th century.
Biography :
Gervais Durand (1839-1920) participated in the 1889 Universal Exhibition where he was awarded a silver medal. A. Picard’s exhibition report stated that, « Mr Durand, cabinet-maker, as skillful as modest, displays for the first time very fine furniture, which has been designed and made by him. He is walking in the footsteps of giants such as Beurdeley and Dasson ». Durand made almost exclusively reproductions of 18th Century masterpieces.
