End of the 18th century. Cream-painted softwood tables on tapering fluted legs, the legs partly decorated with gold leaf, also with gold painting, the frieze with fine floral gold applications, the corners with heads of Medusa in high relief, with a continuous foliate moulding and verde antico marble-tops. Each 85x 87 x 50 cm. Some of the paintwork retouched, but the applications are untouched, some ageing and wear, with some losses to the verde antico marble-tops. (DOC)

Provenance:
formerly Palais Modena in Vienna (today the Ministry of the Interior)

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria strove to create dynastic ties between the House of Habsburg and the Italian Royal Houses. The Dutchy of Modena would become bound to the House of Habsburg by marriage.

On 15 October 1771 Archduke Ferdinand Karl married the Archduchess Maria Beatrice d‘Este in Milan. In 1780 Ferdinand Karl became Governor of Lombardy.
In 1796, Napoleon's invasion of Milan forced the family to flee. After spending time in Trieste and Brünn, the Archduchess settled in Wiener Neustadt with some of her nine children, while Ferdinand Karl moved into his residence in the Belvedere castle in Vienna with the elder sons.

In 1811 Maria Beatrice of Austria- Este purchased the palace in Herrengasse from Prince Franz Joseph von Dietrichstein.

In 1808 her youngest daughter Maria Ludovika married Franz I. of Austria.

In 1814 Maria Beatrice of Austria- Este arranged for the palace to be renovated according to designs by Alois Pichl in the Neo-Classical style.
Through the ties between her mother Maria Teresa Cybo- Malaspina and Giacomo Quarenghi, architect to Catherine the Great, Tsar Paul and Tsar Alexander I, it was possible to bring Quarenghi to Vienna to oversee the interior design and furnishings of the palace.

Due to the marriage of her daughter to the Austrian Emperor Franz I., the palace needed to reflect the high status of the family. The furnishings and fittings of the palace came from the Imperial furniture repository. Quarenghi, in his choice of furniture, favoured Italian works from the 18th century and various Baroque pieces.
In 1814 Maria Beatrice of Austria- Este became ruler of the Duchies of Massa and Carrara, which she inherited from her mother. After the death of Maria Beatrice in Vienna in 1829, the Duchies were united with Modena.

In 1816 Maria Ludovika died in Vienna aged just 29.

In 1819 Franz IV (1779 - 1846) Duke of Modena received the palace from his mother Maria Beatrice of Austria- Este. He rented it almost in its entirety to Gustav Prinz von Wasa and his wife Luise Amelie Stephanie von Baden, amongst others.

In 1842 the palace was sold by Duke Franz IV of Modena to the Austrian state: it was used by the state as the police and censorship offices, and later as Ministry offices. The furnishings were not sold however.

In 1835 Emperor Franz I died in Vienna.

Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria- Este, (eldest son of Emperor Franz II/I and step-son of Maria Ludovika, who ruled from 1835 to 1848) died in 1875: his estate included the furniture present in Palais Modena.

In the partial inventory of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria- Este the present console tables are listed under item No. 106, as Empire-console tables with marble top.