Antique French Carved Wood Salvage Pilaster

Antique French Carved Wood Salvage Pilaster

France | 19th Century

A tapering carved pilaster, lifted out of whatever larger scheme it once belonged to and left to stand as its own object. A small capital of paired volutes sits beneath a projecting cap at the top. A trailing branch of laurel runs the length of the shaft, every leaf undercut by hand. At the foot the whole thing resolves into a deep scrolled acanthus with a fluted shell at its heart, which is where the carver clearly enjoyed himself most.

The paint is a soft grey-blue, rubbed back along every raised edge to a chalky cream. That is how old painted wood always wears, the carving taking the traffic while the flat ground keeps its colour, and nothing here has been tidied or evened out.

Turn it over and the case is closed: bare oxidised timber, never finished because it was never meant to be seen, old nail holes, and worm holes running with the grain. The worm holes show on the face as well, small and dark and scattered along the shaft. On French salvage of any real age they are less a flaw than a signature, and they are the reason a piece like this reads as found rather than made. A small hanging ring is fitted at the top for wall display.

Elements of this kind came out of boiserie, bed frames, armoires and chimneypieces whenever an interior was remodelled, and the ones that survived were kept because somebody could see the carving was worth keeping. Hang it, or lean it, somewhere the afternoon light rakes across the carving. 14.75” x 5”

Details

• Object: Architectural salvage, carved pilaster
• Material: Carved wood in old grey-blue paint, unfinished to the reverse
• Origin: France
• Date: 19th century
• Mounting: Hanging ring fitted at the top
• Condition: Good antique salvage condition, with old worm holes to the face and reverse, paint wear to the raised carving, and old fixing holes consistent with a piece removed from a larger scheme