Table of carved walnut, nineteenth-century, in renaissance style, the pierced, fan-shaped ends carved with sphinxes and nymphs.

Rectangular centre table of carved walnut, with fan-shaped end supports ('en eventail') carved in the form of a nymph standing between two monopod sphinxes, with a central longitudinal stretcher supporting two full and two half supports in the form of conjoined monopod eagles, back to back. The eagles support a central, longitudinal arched rail carved with stylised leaf ornament.

The top of joined, bread-board construction with a moulded edge (with egg and dart above repeated palmette), tenoned and screwed into top rails with a complex moulded edge and carved with lunettes with stylised acanthus. The upper frame of rails supported on two matching end pieces, elaborately carved (on the exterior face only) from a solid plank (about 9cm), built up in places, with a nymph wearing a loose gown and fruit head-dress, the left leg crossed in front of the right, with arms raised, grasping with each hand a carved projection from the shoulder of a monopod sphinx, carved in the round and wearing a garland of fruit. Each end piece is set on a plinth with moulded edge, which in turn rests on a sled foot. Each sled foot with a central lion mask, and at each end a human head (mouth agape, facing up) wearing a cap, with a shallow plain pad underneath and two 19th century casters.

The two end pieces are joined at the top with a dovetailed central stretcher with 3 arches, carved with stylised leaf ornament; which rests on two full and two half supports in the form of conjoined monopod eagles, back to back. The eagles in turn rest on a lower stretcher (also jointed into the end pieces) with plain top and double ogee moulding carved with lunettes and gadroons.

Repairs and restoration
The table top (repaired, possibly by the Museum) seems indisputably to be 19th century elements. Parts that looks suspiciously fresh but which may be early are the longitudinanl, bottom stretcher with a carved leaf moulding that runs between the carved ends, and the arcaded mid-stretcher above the bird supports. The four feet, which appear to be original) have been built up with new wood, and 19th century brass casters (with notable wear) have been added. Small areas of restoration have been carried out on the ends.

The top seems too short for the frame (when compared to 16th century designs). The top panel was glued into the frame, preventing any movement and unsurprisingly this panel has split along one side, leaving a gap which has been filled with a fillet, and additional slips added into gaps between at the mitred corners, and the repair probably toned to a dark tone, probably to match the ends. The thin panel has also bowed, causing it to shrink out of its groove at one end. Surface toning appears to have discoloured leaving a very variegated (and possibly distressed) table surface.

Bought for £40 'Table of carved chestnut wood'.

Jules Soulages, from whose collection this table came was a lawyer and antiquary based in Paris, and later Toulouse who collected renaissance furniture from the 1830s. On the basis of a plaque attached to another piece of furniture in the V&A's collection, also owned by Soulages, some of his furniture was restored by Ladousse in the workshops of the Toulouse Institute of Deaf-Mutes. It is not known where or when Soulages obtained this table, but the style of carving suggests a SW origin near Toulouse.

Various other examples of tables of this form with similar feet are known, eg Jacques Thirion, p.130 (Frick Collection) gaping lion(?) heads, p.131 (Louvre) masks.

Lent to the Manchester Art Gallery, Art Treasures Exhibition (2007-8); at this time the table was thought to be a 19th century creation, but it now appears that at least substantial parts of the table may be 16th century in date (and of a SW French origin), although restored.

Conservation treatments
1976 Scratches polished out

Pollen says: this table (and others) "belong to the class of furniture such as cabinets, dressers, dining-room presses, &c., specially designed by the architects of the day. The griffins, sphinxes, and other mythological animals that support this seem more or less to connect them with architectural facades or chimney-pieces."

Thirion (see below) distinguishes this type of luxury table from simpler trestle tables of the kind widely used during the medieval period, and classes it as a piece of sculpture on account of its elaborate and distinctive end pieces, and he judges it to be one of the summits of furniture history in France. This type with fixed supports was usually known as a table 'en eventail' (fan-shaped). The type is often associated with Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau who published various, influential designs for such tables from 1550, but he was not the inventor, since the form appeared in Italy from the 1520s, probably inspired by antique marble tables. The type was however already found in France by 1549, and the evidence of inventories suggests that centre tables of this form, with their marked references to antiquity were considered fashionable, even necessary to the state rooms of the French elite, though there was considerable variety in their decoration, hardstone, marquetry and gilding all being used to enhance their impact. Bonnaffé suggests a Burgundy origin for the ostentatiously carved examples of this type, but the attribution should probably be taken with caution, as it seems likely that similar tables were produced more widely.

See Bonnaffé (pp.177-194) for a summary of the use of the table, the 'indispenable accessory of all festivities', at which correct behaviour and manners were an obligation, and court ceremonial elaborate. Gilles Corrozet's Les Blasons Domestiques (1539) suggests the varied role of the (trestle) table in France during the 16th century:
Bright table, shining table, table/ well fitted to the chamber, table/ well polished every day, table/ supported on two trestles, table/ which arouses the desire to take/ savoury pleasure in every choice/ meat. Table necessary to all people./ Table dressed with a cloth prepared/ for eating & drinking. Set with/ precious dishes and delicious good/ wines. Table full of chatter, Table/ where the great banquet is held on/ feast days or wedding days, table/ where business is discussed: then/ peace, then war, then France, then/ England. Then virtue, then folly,/ table polished like a mirror: table/ where each man takes his meal, for/ nourishment in measure. Oh/ virtuous and distinguished table,/ table of wood, Oh handsome table…

Examples of such tables were sought after by late 19th century collectors, probably because of their ostentatious carving, and the demand of the market will have contributed to the creation of tables using old and new parts, and the restoration of original tables. Koeppe illustrates two such tables from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one as an example of honest repairs, the other as an example of a 19th century creation based on printed designs by Du Cerceau. The foot motif of gaping masks is seen on the Frick table (Thirion p.130).

See also the table in the Museé Paul Depuy, Toulouse (Thirion, p136)

Jacques Thirion, Le Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en France (Dijon, 1998)

This type of centre table was known from its twin, fan-shaped end supports as a table en éventail(fan-shaped). Tables of this form have often been associated with the designer Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau, who published various, influential designs for similar tables from 1550. He, however, was not the inventor of the form, which appeared in Italy from the 1520s, probably inspired by antique marble tables. Tables of this form were found in France by 1549, and the evidence of inventories suggests that they were considered highly fashionable, appropriate for dining, business or conversation with guests. Their impressive sculptural end pieces and their ornament, derived from classical antiquity, distinguished them from the simple, standard trestle tables which had been used during the medieval period.

This example belonged to the eminent French collector of Renaissance furniture Jules Soulages, and probably originated in SW French. It has been restored, probably during Soulages' ownership.

7215-1860