19th Century Athenian Table Forming A Jardinière In Gilded Wood

Elegant Athenian-shaped table forming a living room planter, work from the first half of the 19th century in gilded wood, molded and carved in high relief, the zinc basin is covered with caning and enlivened by a belt of interlacing with an antique order motif finely carved openwork, it is supported by a large tripod base with arched uprights highlighted by a frieze of piastres extending at the top by ram's heads joined by garlands of laurel tori, the lower part rests on so-called doe-hoof feet joined around a triangular spacer decorated with a rosette in the center. Good condition, very stable piece of furniture, note wear and missing parts to the gilding. Dimensions: 87 cm high X 50 cm wide. Beautiful neoclassical work inspired by ancient models, this term of athenian appears in furniture in the 1770s, following the discovery of ancient tripods during the archaeological excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum by Count Caylus. By allusion to a painting where a woman draped in antique style burns incense on a tripod: "The Virtuous Athenian" by Joseph-Marie Vien, subsequently the artist Jean-Henri Eberts invented in 1773 a tripod with a guéridon, cassolette, brazier and jardinière, which he called athenian. This small piece of furniture found its place in reception rooms as well as private apartments. These forms were reinterpreted and corresponding under the consulate and the empire to the attraction for rediscovered antiquity and evolved: François-Honoré Jacob-Desmalter or Martin-Guillaume Biennais after drawings by Charles Percier extended its use to the toilet. The planter we are presenting is directly inspired by the tripod depicted in the painting by Joseph-Marie Vien kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Strasbourg. The ram-headed uprights are also joined by garlands, ending in hooves on a triangular base.