Console Table
François Roumier
c. 1735
Medium
Wood, oak, gesso, and gilding
Dimensions
90.2 × 157.5 × 72.4 cm (35 1/2 × 62 × 28 1/2 in.)
Classification
table
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
25857
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The symmetric design of this table, which was meant to be attached to a wall, places it in the early phase of the Rococo style known as Régence, or French Regency. Named for Philippe II, duc d’Orléans, who served as regent to Louis XV for eight years, the style marked a transition from courtly Baroque formality and grandeur to a more sophisticated, frivolous, and intimate sensibility. By the time Louis XV took power, however, the style had evolved into the full-blown asymmetry of the Rococo.