Louis-Philippe Tilt Top Tables

The original table stands in the Royal Palace, in Brussels. It is still called the "family table," and belonged to Louise-Marie, the eldest daughter of King Louis-Phillippe of France. She became queen of Belgium in 1832. It was probably made by Alexandre Bellange and exhibited at the Products of lndustry Exhibition held in Paris in 1834. The exhibition report states that one of the large drawing room tables by this cabinetmaker was purchased on the king's orders and presented to the queen of Belgium. The original table was over 2 meters in diameter and made of Cuban mahogany with boxwood inlay.

LOUIS-PHILIPPE TILT TOP TABLES
The original table stands in the Royal Palace, in Brussels. It is still called the "family table," and belonged to Louise-Marie, the eldest daughter of King Louis-Phillippe of France. She became queen of Belgium in 1832. It was probably made by Alexandre Bellange and exhibited at the Products of lndustry Exhibition held in Paris in 1834. The exhibition report states that one of the large drawing room tables by this cabinetmaker was purchased on the king's orders and presented to the queen of Belgium. The original table was over 2 meters in diameter and made of Cuban mahogany with boxwood inlay.
I was fascinated with the marquetry pattern, and spent hours discussing with Dr. Pierre Ramond, while I was at ecole Boulle, in Paris, getting his advice on how to cut it properly. He suggested that I divide the top into 6 parts and cut it out in 12 layers. I chose two woods which are no longer available, as a tribute to extinct species of trees. I had purchased a quantity of Brazilian rosewood from Patrick George, in Paris, that was legally harvested in 1952, and a flitch of radially cut satinwood from Ceylon, which was harvested prior to the tsunami destruction of the remainder of the forest.	Click here & here for table top details
Click here for table top detail		Since the original was a large table with a fixed base, I decided to reduce the pattern by over 50 percent, which made the details of the design more intricate, and more difficult to cut. There are over 6000 individual elements of rosewood and satinwood pieces in just the two tops, not including the Greek key banding around the edge, also hand cut. Note that the small ovals which contain the swan, butterfly and lyre do not repeat, and had to be cut in a second process, after the overall tops were assembled. One of the interesting features of the design is the inclusion of a 5 pointed star motif in the center of a 6 sided design.
I decided to make the tables tilt, using traditional methods, which allows the tops to be viewed either vertical or horizontal. The tops are easily removable with two antique brass thumb screws, allowing the tables to be transported without difficulity and assembled in a matter of minutes. There is a gilt bronze band of molding around the brick laid apron. The egg and dart molding at the base of the pedestal was made in Paris to fit a pattern, which I supplied, and then I carved the pedestal to match. The gold stars on the base are attached with points from the back, typical of mounts in the Empire period. I made a plaster cast of an original English regency period rosewood foot and engaged Boris Khechoyan to carve a wood model. I sent the wood model to Paris where it was cast in wax and then in bronze After that it was gilt, chiseled and burnished, according to the Empire style. The feet alone took over a year to produce.
		One of the most challenging aspects of this project is the pedestal itself. The entire table is made of solid woods, veneered with marquetry. To produce the pedestals, which are concave in two directions, I glued up several 4" blocks of tulip poplar and began to chop away with an adz. It sounds primitive, and it was. It took several weeks to rough out the profiles, working with large chisels, spokeshaves and scrapers. When I was done with the shaping, I used hot animal protein glue and heated sandbags to press the marquetry surface in place, working on one side at a time. It took two weeks just to hammer veneer the sides of the pedestals in place, without wrinkles. A month of French polishing finished the project and brought out the beauty of ythe wood. I was very pleased with the results.

In fact, the results of this project have exceeded my wildest dreams. I have been extremely pleased with the comments they have generated. I do not know who will purchase them, or where they will find a home, but I am confident they will eventually end up in either a Museum or a modem day castle. I will only sell them as a pair, and the price is $150,000. The most common remark I hear from people who see them is "I don't know which one I like better!" I feel the same way. Continue to my Gallery of Work.