Table with extensions, with base in cross of Lorraine. Walnut. Val de Loire. Around 1570-1580.
Our table is designed according to a structure called Italian, with two side zippers. Its base is built like an antique colonnade resting on a low braced and stepped strutting the shape of a cross of Lorraine. The ringed columns, with a delicately turned barrel, support an architrave turned into a table belt. The massiveness of the base is studied to maintain a good balance to the whole when the extensions are pulled. The spinning tops at the four corners of the disassembled belt add to the already refined look of this model from the second Renaissance.
Dimensions: H. 82 cm, L. 133 cm, P. 73 cm.
Very good state of conservation. The cross of Lorraine is a cross whose two transverse bars are of the same length. This symbol was used by the Dukes of Anjou from 1431. Jacques Androuet du Cerceau was one of the first to draw inspiration from ancient architectural forms to create elegant furniture with perfect proportions. To compare to the table referenced in the book by Jacqueline Boccador, "French furniture from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance", Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot, p. 277, fig. 215. A closer to lot No. 131, Haute Epoque sale, April 16, 2010, Aguttes. The table of the Middle Ages, tray set on trestles, adapted its size to the number of guests. Became fixed, it offers its base decoration, but is constrained by a permanently installed tray. Ingenious carpenters, French or Flemish, build the first tables, the size of which varies by means of extensions: "Two trays, covered by the central table, could, if necessary, pull themselves out, and proportionately increase the available space" (Havard). They appear around 1560 in the inventories.