Onyx Side Table with Gilded Bronze Base and Female Mascarons (5294)

Onyx side table with gilded bronze base and female mascarons — rococo

This elegant round onyx table (onyx table) is an exquisite decorative guéridon in the rococo and historicist style, where warm, mottled stone and gilded bronze combine in an airy, graceful form. The table is designed to be a small accent of luxury — a place for a lamp, vase, or glass next to an armchair, which itself draws the eye.

Dimensions: height 56.5 cm · top width 39.5 cm.

Period of manufacture
The table was made in the mid-20th century in a historicist style, imitating the 19th-century guéridon tradition with a pedestal and stone top.

Construction and decor
The round top is made of mottled onyx with warm yellow-brown and creamy veining, enclosed by a wavy, “drop-shaped” edge. The slender stem is formed by two bronze vases with rich floral and acanthus reliefs, between which is inserted a polished onyx connecting element. The three-star base is adorned with three female mascarons — classic female faces with long hair that flows into acanthus scrolls and shell-shaped palmettes.

Material
Onyx (stone) top and stem element; pedestal and base — (ormolu).

Condition
Good condition appropriate for its age. The onyx has retained its beautiful natural pattern and polish. The shows a warm sheen with a slight patina in places.

Application
Decorative side table for a lamp, vase, book, or drink; equally beautiful in a living room, bedroom, or next to an armchair in an interior with a historical character.

Belle Époque snapshot: Composer Jules Massenet had lingered in a Parisian salon after a concert and was now sitting in a solitary chair by the window while other guests were still gathering around the piano. On the small onyx table next to him stood an untouched glass of champagne, and the candlelight glided over the stone’s veining, making it shimmer like a frozen stream of honey. His fingers idly touched one of the gilded female faces on the base — cool, smooth, eternally calm. A new melody was already sounding in his head, gentle and slightly sad, and he knew it would stay with him until morning. Outside the window, Paris was gradually fading; he smiled and let the music grow in the silence.