French Napoleon III Console Table un Black Wood and Carrara Arabesque Marble, 1870s

Elegant and refined french console table in the napoleon iii style; the entire frame is made of black-painted oak wood; the top, which supports the marble top, has classic hand-carved napoleonic decorations on the edge; the four legs have a smooth body and are tapered downward; the rear legs, at the bottom, are joined by a long crosspiece that, in turn, is connected to the front legs with semicircular elements, thus creating a sinuous and light movement that makes the entire piece of furniture stable and solid, capable precisely of supporting the weight of the marble top.

remarkable and refined is the leaf decoration, also carved, placed at the central intersection of the crosspieces. Very important is the type of marble used for this console table, it is in fact, carrara arabesque marble. Arabesque marble is a very fine variety of white lithotype with dark gray veins. The name arabescato marble comes from the name of its veins also called arabesques.

very similar to veined marble, arabescato marble has a crystalline white color and is distinguished from veined marble by its more prominent, darker-colored veins. It is quarried in the apuan alps and versilia area in the province of lucca, where the mining site for the more valuable carrara marble is also located. Arabescato carrara, due to its rare and special geological composition is a material of the highest international standard, which has been used for centuries until today for fine ornamental work and luxury furnishings.

the console table was made in the napoleon iii style between 1870 and 1875 by a master cabinetmaker in a craft workshop in the french town of liffon-le-grand located in the vosges department in the grand est region. The napoleon iii style resumed the more serious and austere forms of the first empire, but the eclecticism, which distinguished the period, made it more graceful, refined, and elegant, reflecting and well representing the socio-cultural and economic period that france was experiencing at the time. A perfect repair of a crack was made on the marble top, but, as you can see from the photos (see red oval highlighting), it is visible only at close range. The wooden part has been hand-treated with ancient restoration techniques by our team of craftsmen and is in excellent condition.

measures width cm.116, depth cm.42, height cm.90.