Louis Majorelle "Caltha des Marais" Two-Tier Table
$295,000
This two-tiered "Caltha des Marais," or "Marsh Marigold," table with golden ormolu mounts and beautifully bowed legs was created at the height of Louis Majorelle's most fertile period. The table top features a luxurious Amboyna burl veneer, while a walnut skirt bends into a graduating concave form, crowned with baroque swag motifs and foliate scrolls in glittering golden colors. Majorelle's sophisticated naturalism during this time combined lavish ornaments of the ancient regime into the fluid line of modernity. The combination found in this table, of refined natural elements in the form of Majorelle's beloved marsh marigolds and arrowhead leaves, paired with the sleek use of concave lines, demonstrates the overwhelming success of this master artist in his woodwork oeuvre of Art Nouveau.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: F-17287
Artist: Louis Majorelle
Circa: 1904
Dimensions: 31" height, 28" width, 28" depth
Materials: Walnut, Amboyna burl veneer, Ormolu Bronze Mounts
Literature: Similar table is pictured in The Paris Salons 1895-1915, Vol. III: Furniture, by Alastair Duncan, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1996, p. 396 (Chairs and tables Salon, 1904); Similar table is also pictured in Louis Majorelle: Master of Art Nouveau Design, by Alastair Duncan, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991, plate 57
Amboyna veneer is among the world's rarest and most expensive veneers—holding the distinction of being the original wood used on Rolls Royce dashboards. Against the sobriety of the walnut, the Amboyna burl gives the table an air of luxury.