Jean Baptiste Befort

JEAN BAPTISTE BEFORT (France, 1783-1840).
Pair of consoles, ca. 1820.
Ebonized wood. Boulle marquetry.
Gilded bronze applications.
Marble top.
Measurements: 111 x 111 x 35 cm.

Pair of consoles made by the French cabinetmaker of Belgian origin Jean Baptiste Befort. They are a magnificent example of courtly cabinetmaking belonging to a period of transition between Neoclassicism and Historicism, when aristocratic furniture revived styles of the past such as Louis XIV. Jean Baptiste Befort was a leading figure in this transition. We see in this pair of consoles notable examples of this melting pot of influences. Most notable is his adoption and refined treatment of Boulle marquetry, combining applications of gilt brass and tortoiseshell, with which he achieves ostentatious plastic hallmarks. The gilded brass applications with ornamental motifs of classical inspiration in the form of rosettes and masks bordered with foliage integrate the lower register and the keyholes of each door. The consoles, rectangular and symmetrical in structure, rise on spiral turned feet forming inverted pyramids. The latter was a typical detail of 17th century French furniture that Befort and other cabinetmakers of the first third of the 19th century recovered and adapted to new tastes. The tops are of marbled marble, with a molded edge and decorated with gilt carving. Flowers and birds in enamel provide chromatic counterpoints and visually enrich the arabesques and borders of the marquetry. Jean Baptiste Befort is remembered for having made numerous pieces of furniture for the Duke of Orleans, as well as Versailles commissions. His son Mathieu Befort (known as Befort Jeune) inherited his father's mastery and also became a famous cabinetmaker, a follower of the Boullé style during the Second Empire.