A piece of furniture typical of the rocaille style had two or four legs, curved and decorated with scrolls and curls and fixed together by a crosspiece enriched with a decorative motif, often in the shape of a shell or urn.
The consoles were generally gilded with pure gold leaf and, if smaller, were raised from the ground, like the shelves. In the eighteenth century, in Venice, consoles painted with tiny flowers on a blue, ocher or greenish background came into fashion. Sometimes the consoles were characterized by a single leg, represented by a small column, an eagle, a moretto, a lyre. In the Empire style the consoles were of dark lacquered wood (mahogany or walnut) and had four legs, not connected to each other and stiffened in the shape of a column with a gilt bronze capital. Crescent-shaped consoles were also in fashion which had the shape of a round table cut in half and sometimes had two rounded doors under the top. They could thus be reassembled to form a single round table. In the Liberty style, wrought iron consoles were also produced. The console was often accompanied by a mirror, sometimes flanked by appliques; or it was placed next to a painting hanging on the wall. On the shelf rested pottery, or were arranged precious furnishings in gilded bronze, such as table clocks, or collections of minute objects.
Source: Wikipedia
