It is under the name of “consonant” or “console table” Havard tells us in his Dictionary of Furnishings that the console appears in old inventories.
This is also, he specifies, the designation used by upholsterers and merchants. Appearing during the reign of Louis We are talking about console tables, monopods, bipods, etc.
When the top is rectangular, they are called “game tables”. Louis XIV period game table When they leave the wall to take their place in the center of the room, they are called “middle tables”. Intended to present all kinds of decorative objects, they were placed between windows and doors under mirrors, hanging from fireplaces, enthroned in bedrooms, living rooms or boudoirs. Designed at the same time as the woodwork of which they constitute a sort of extension, they are in carved wood, sometimes in natural wood, most often painted or gilded, more rarely in wrought iron. The top, which alone then designated the table, was generally made of marble. Under Louis XIV, the models were decorated with masks and acanthus leaves; the belt is richly decorated, its center often punctuated with a head in relief, the apron openwork with foliage, the baluster or arched feet, the spacer decorated with a vase.
However, it was under the Regency and then under the reign of Louis XV that the console table reached its peak. Rocailles, shells, garlands and bouquets of flowers invade the furniture, the legs almost systematically S-shaped, the front and sides often curved or crossbow-shaped. We sometimes see real pieces of sculpture, the walnut hosting various themes, the uprights frequently decorated with Spanish busts. After the exuberance of this first half of the century, the models calmed down under the reign of Louis XVI, indeed undergoing the influence of new neoclassical aesthetic trends. The console is simplified. Of a stricter order, it is lighter on now tapered feet. Light tones and mahogany replace gilded wood, bronzes emphasize the lines. It was at this time that a new type of console table appeared with a lower tray connecting the legs: the serving console or serving console intended to accommodate the dishes in the new room that was now the dining room.
Finally, in the 19th century, it was influenced by ancient models (Greek, Roman and Egyptian) then in force. The architectural style imposes its forms. The often massive console is rectangular, with a marble or wood top, a belt drawer, column or caryatid legs in sheaths. The gilded and chiseled bronze ornaments embellish the dark woods, notably the mahogany omnipresent until 1810. The console still saw some good days under Napoleon III and then under the Art Deco period, but its most beautiful pages are now written.