Restoration of a Louis XVI console (1790-1795) stamped with Bernard Molitor. The frame is made of oak, and the legs are solid mahogany. The panels of the lower shelf are made of beech. It is veneered with mahogany burl and inlaid with ebony and brass stringing.
Originally from Luxembourg, Bernard Molitor (1755 – November 17, 1833) earned his master craftsman's certificate in Paris on October 26, 1787. Having arrived in Paris in 1776, he initially worked in a small workshop in the Arsenal district. After completing his master's degree, he established himself on the rue de Bourbon-Saint-Germain. The austerity of his work, at a time when the king was seeking to reduce his spending, opened the doors to his first royal commissions in 1788. When the Revolution broke out, he closed his workshop, but reopened it shortly thereafter. A true innovator, he foreshadowed the Empire style as early as the end of the Louis XVI era. His refined furniture, adorned with bronze mounts, featured ivy leaves entwined around detached columns, friezes of stylized palmettes, or winged griffins—common motifs during the Empire period. Alongside these luxurious pieces, Molitor also produced more classical furniture, always in mahogany and crafted with the utmost care. Bernard Molitor thus navigated this turbulent period with relative ease. In 1802, he moved his workshops to Rue Saint-Honoré, and then, during the Napoleonic era, to Boulevard de la Madeleine. He spent his final years near Fontainebleau, where he died in 1833.
Bibliographie : Ulrich Leben « Molitor : Ébéniste de Louis XVI à Louis XVIII »
The console arrived at the workshop in very poor condition. The lower shelf was heavily worm-eaten, making the stamp very difficult to read. There was a significant amount of material missing from the left rear leg. Only three flutes and a few scraper fragments remained on the shelf's edge. Some joints were broken, and a considerable amount of veneer was missing.
The restoration therefore consisted of replacing the missing veneer and brass inlays, reattaching the mahogany moldings, reaming the drawer bottom, reattaching the joints and restoring the missing fluting.
We cleaned and repositioned the marble tops, and recreated the missing scrapers exactly. We cleaned the bronze mounts and regilded the missing areas. We varnished the piece with a colorless pad of varnish, then reattached the legs with fish glue.
To see previous restorations : https://ebenisterie-mathieuvath.fr/en-ce-moment-a-latelier/
You can find this console at Stéphane Guin Antiques
Hello and congratulations Mathieu, you are a genius because you have brought this exceptional console back to life.
Thank you again very much. .
Stephane
Thank you Stéphane for giving me the opportunity to work on such furniture!