The chiffonnier, or tall case of drawers, occurs in the inventories of this reign. It was used in the dressing and bedrooms.
The console, or pier-table, still holds its place under the mirror between the windows. It bears little resemblance to the superbly carved and decorative console of the former reign. It is composed of straight lines, a straight grooved leg, or a leg grooved and tapered, as shown on Plate [XLVIII.], No. 1. The ornaments are slight, merely a little gilded metal gallery around the top and base, a small ornament, a rosette or trophy, in the centre under the slab, and sometimes a little decoration on the legs. The straining-rails sometimes unite to form a sort of basket or tray to hold flowers or a piece of porcelain, and sometimes the legs are united by a solid piece of wood, as appears on Plate [XLIII.], which also shows the favourite style of standing upon it a single Sèvres vase. The console was not only made of mahogany and brass work, but it was frequently painted in a light colour. Grey or celadon was a favourite hue. At the sale of the Versailles furniture, during the Terror, “two consoles, painted in pearl-grey, elegantly ornamented with carving and having very handsome slabs of Carara marble,” were sold.
PLATE XLVI
A console in which the characteristics of the approaching Empire style are evident is shown as No. 5 on Plate [XLVII.] In the original, a double eagle sits upon the straining-rail directly below the chubby cherub. The eagle is accompanied by a branch of laurel. It will not be long before the classic head of the term leg is succeeded by the sphinx.
Typical drawing-room tables are shown on Plate [XLIII.] It is very rarely that a table of gilded wood is met with in a drawing-room or petit salon. Solid or veneered tables of rosewood, amaranth, violet-wood or mahogany, decorated with brass-work or gilded copper, are the favourites. Sometimes the top consists of a marble slab, and sometimes a square of velvet or cloth is framed in a border of wood ornamented with a metal moulding; but the table-cloth is rigorously avoided.
In the boudoir, tables painted and lacquered in the Vernis Martin style are met with. In the boudoir as well as in the drawing-room, the “flower table” also occurs. This must have been a jardinière, because Percier uses the word table à fleurs for his jardinières. Growing flowers were greatly preferred to cut flowers for decoration, and were placed on tables or stands in vases and baskets made of gilded metal or gilded osiers. The flower table, however, was arranged purposely for growing plants. It resembled the pier-table, and was often ornamented with porcelain plaques. In 1777, a Parisian advertisement reads: “For sale, a beautiful table à fleurs, now being made, of satin-wood lined with lead, the four feet in scrolls ornamented with shoes gilded or moulu, as also the rings that form the handles; with a drawer also lined with lead to drain the water.”
Writing-tables with desks that lift up and down at pleasure to any height required, by means of mechanical devices, were also placed in the boudoir. Work-tables were sometimes combined with the writing-tables.
Numerous kinds of card-tables were in use and tables called “de bouillote,” which were round, folding or fixed, and stood on four feet.
The extension dining-table, mounted on four, six or eight feet and opening at the middle, appears in this period, and a very useful article is introduced into the dining-room. This is the table servante, a species of dumb-waiter, with drawers and shelves arranged in tiers and supported on four feet. Some of the drawers are large enough to hold bottles or a carafe, while others are intended for corkscrews and small articles. The feet, which are grooved, are mounted on casters. This piece of furniture is represented in the caricatures by Charlet, Grandville and H. Monnier.