Louis XVI Vide-Poche Side Table, Paris, France, 1785

Paris
Mahogany, brass, gilded bronze
around 1785

Dimensions: H x W x D: 72 x 50 x 33 cm

Two filigree lyres with embedded cast and hand-filed chequer plates, connected by a cross strut also decorated with a chequer plate, support the tray-like table box framed by gilded brass mouldings.
This practical type of furniture, known in France as a vide-poche, was designed for storing small items in pockets during a change of clothes or a night’s sleep.

The elegant design of the table, with its large chequered panels and very fine rosettes, is probably influenced by the style of David Roentgen, who had been supplying furniture to the Versailles court since 1779 and shortly afterwards ran his own furniture store in Paris. In 1785, he sold this to his local manager Johann Gottlieb Frost, who set up his own production in Paris and, after initially working entirely in the style of Roentgen, adapted his products to the Parisian style within a few years.

Two tables of this type made shortly after 1800 are illustrated in La Mésangère 1805-1807, see illustration.

Condition: Careful restoration, preserving the original patina.

Please compare the following literature on David Roentgen and Johann Gottlieb Frost:
Christine Cornet and Bernd Willscheid – Möbel à la Roentgen – Inspirationen aus der Neuwieder Manufaktur – Michael Sulzbacher – Die Möbel des Johann Gottlieb Frost p. 100-112