catalog text
PAIR OF NEO-POMPEIAN BRASS AND VERDE MARBLE GUERIDONS
French or Italian, circa 1910 | unmarked
Item # 403FQE25W
A lovely pair of Neo-Pompeian gueridons from the turn of the century, they reflect the Neo-Pompeian style of Greek antiquity. The design aligns with the Neoclassical revival of the Grand Tour and Victorian periods where clientele of the best designers were demanding a refresh on the earliest discoveries of furniture and sculpture of classical antiquity.
The loose inspiration for the form probably springs from the Throne of Dagobert held in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, a work of art believed to have been modeled in the 7th century. The most well-distributed innovations on this table were the designs of Ferdinand Levillain produced by Ferdinand Barbedienne and exhibited in the Exposition Universelle of 1889. They also produced a series of tables under the direction of Louis-Constant Sevin after he joined the firm in 1855 and made various iterations of that form - some with the sand-cast and chiseled bas-relief top that Levillain was credited for, others with stone tops, variations in size and various compositions around the stand. The firm Chiurazzi produced tables with the same leg form in Italy.
There were also earlier interpretations of this form starting in the Regency era that remain unattributed to a specific designer and show a much longer history for the form. One such example would be the gueridon in the Collection du Mobilier National of France (acc. no. GML-9813-000), which showcases essentially the same form as the present table, including the tubular elements behind the animal legs to which the X-stretchers affix. A nearly identical example to the model in the Collection du Mobilier National, also from the first half of the 19th century and pre-dating the Barbedienne models, was offered at Sotheby's in Paris, 14 October 2021 in the "Autour de la princesse de Salm | Arts et littérature" sale, lot 40, where it achieved a final sale price of 23,940 euros.
The present pair are a gorgeous presentation, the aged brass with a gilt overlay that has lightly worn through and results in a chaotic overall patina. They both have matched green marble circular tops set into a deep rim with incised edges.
The body of the table is beautifully fabricated. The thin and delicately reeded rim is raised on curls of foliage over the Leopard head masks, their mouths opened in a roar. These masks transition seamlessly into monopodia supports, the klismo form being distinctly feline in its design; they terminate in substantial animal paw feet. The sabots are raised over a polished brass socle. The structural composition of the table is made firm with ‘X’-form cross stretchers of gilt-bronze with small bas-relief circular effigies of a satyr at the cross-section.
The balance of the overall proportions and the dissection of negative space with the X-stretchers is very pleasing. It showcases harmonious scale with each element relating perfectly to the next. Obviously careful design attention was shown in preparing size, projection and curve. The juxtaposition of brass and green marble are most effective at grabbing the full attention of the viewer and making a relatively small pair of tables feel larger than life.
Note, at the time of this writing we still have available in our stock a nearly identical table that is built slightly differently with a black marble top, slightly older than these two. Browse our inventory to see that example.
Measurements: 26 3/4" H x 12 5/8" diameter
Condition Report:
Discoloration, tarnish and rubbing through the gilding on the brass with light surface wear; X-braces have bending to most; very light wear to the green marble - these are not able to be removed and as such have not been examined for originality; very sturdy, heavy and stable - ready to place.