Console table with settee

Console table with settee [Table - console with shelves]. The presented console table with shelves is one of four identical pieces of furniture together with S.524MŁ; S.542MŁ; S.559MŁ. They complete the set for the six semi-circular consoles S.3705MŁ; S.4211MŁ; S.4213MŁ; S.4205MŁ; S.4507MŁ; S.4209MŁ. The similarity of materials and details used testifies to the common workshop origin of the furniture set, apparently made to individual order and intended for display purposes. The Latin word 'consol', translated as consolation, has passed into many European languages. In France, the term 'console', meaning support or buttress, was used to describe the wall-mounted supports, pedestals and tables introduced at the end of the 17th century. Consoles had a decorative function, and they were used to display sculptures, clocks, vases and similar products used to decorate representative interiors. They were grouped symmetrically, placed between windows or doors, and were usually fixed to the wall for more excellent stability. The back of the console adjacent to it was left unworked, unlike the sides facing the viewer. The consoles, which were popularised in the 18th century, were shaped according to the prevailing fashion, using characteristic stylistic forms and details. The console in question took the form of a rectangular table with a four-tiered wall-mounted shelf. The console is supported by four legs on a narrow, front open skirted base. The tops and base were veneered with a layer of mahogany. The woodcarving on the jointed legs and the openwork sides of the tapering top shelves of the console are distinctive accents in the design of the furniture. The lyre motif in the shelf supports and acanthus leaves give the furniture the lightness of late Classicism. However, the clear and straightforward form of the furniture is typical for the Biedermeier style, which dominated in Central Europe from the second to the fifth decade of the 19th century. Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967