Parquetry Louis XV Giltwood Center Table

A finely crafted centre table in the Louis XV taste, featuring a shaped serpentine top inlaid with a striking checkerboard parquetry design of contrasting fruitwoods, framed by a crossbanded border. The mahogany frieze is richly carved and parcel-gilded with rocaille shells, scrolling foliage, and floral swags in the Rococo revival manner. Raised on three elegant cabriole legs headed by carved giltwood shells and acanthus, joined by a scrolling shaped stretcher centred on a turned ebonised finial, and terminating in scrolled toes with gilt bosses. The combination of geometric marquetry, sculptural gilt ornament, and a tripod cabriole base reflects the high standard of Parisian cabinetmaking of the second half of the 19th century.