Pair of Empire Retour d'Egypte console tables. Dimensions approximately cm h. 95x101x40.5.

France manufacture from the beginning of the 19th century. Dimensions approximately cm h. 95x101x40.5. Pair of Empire Retour d'Egypte console tables, in mahogany and rosewood, inlaid with fanciful silver hieroglyphs, with silvered and patinated bronze ornaments. Tops in white Carrara statuary marble. Original mercury-silvered mirrors. One console table is equipped with a lock with key and cloverleaf insert; the other with a secret compartment. Dimensions approximately cm h. 95x101x40.5. The plaques with the obelisks are similar to those in gilded bronze of the celebrated Pendule à l'égyptienne attributed to the bronze maker André Ravio, inspired by a design by Thomas Hope. Encyclopédie de la Pendule by Kjelleberg page 381. Vergoldete Bronzen by Ottomeier-Pröchel page 336. Les Ouviers du Temps by Augarde page 358.