Amethyst and ormolu guéridon in the manner of Weisweiler

The design of this superb guéridon is in the manner of the celebrated eighteenth-century ébéniste Adam Weisweiler. The guéridon, or circular side table, features a segmentally veneered amethyst top framed in ormolu, above a blue enamel apron adorned with a pierced ormolu openwork frieze of interwoven laurel vines. The table is supported by three ormolu legs, each leg ornately modelled as a caryatid bearing a basket of fruit. The legs are connected by a triple scroll stretcher, and each leg terminates in a tapering spirally fluted foot.

Tables such as the present example were produced in abundance during the last quarter of the nineteenth century by maisons such as Sormani, Millet, Dasson, and Beurdeley. The present guéridon is particularly unusual for its beautiful amethyst top.