拍品专文
This design is closely related to four pairs supplied by Thomire-Duterme to the Palais de Fontainebleau in 1809 and also to a pair supplied by Ravrio to the Grand Trianon in 1813. (see: J-P.Samoyault, Pendules et Bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Fontainebleau Catalogue, Paris, 1989, p.140, no.112 and D.Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, 1975, p.150)
The presence of royal examples supplied by two different makers suggest that the origins of the design are complex. There is a drawing in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (CD3769) which is attributed to Ravrio's workshop and which shows a five-light wall-light with branches that are very close to the present lot. There is some variation between branches within the group and the acanthus-cast branches of the present lot resemble the Ravrio design more closely than do the examples at Fontainebleau and the Grand Trianon.
Several other examples of this distinguished model are known. At least a pair were in the Chateau de Grand-Vaux and are illustrated in P.Marmottan, Le Style Empire, vol.V, Paris, 1930, pl.32. They appear to have been of the Fontainebleau variant. Marmottan had a pair of five-light examples in his own collection that are very close to the design of the present lot (ibid., vol.III, Paris, 1925, pl.34). Another pair of ten branch lights, close to the Trianon model, was in the Salon Rose at the Hotel Beauharnais (see: Le Style Empire, L'Hôtel Beauharnais, Librairie centrale d'Art et d'Architecture, Paris, 1945, pls. 38 and 46) The design and the Trianon type are illustrated in H.Ottomeyer, P.Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p.356, figs. 5.10.4 and 5.10.5.
The presence of royal examples supplied by two different makers suggest that the origins of the design are complex. There is a drawing in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (CD3769) which is attributed to Ravrio's workshop and which shows a five-light wall-light with branches that are very close to the present lot. There is some variation between branches within the group and the acanthus-cast branches of the present lot resemble the Ravrio design more closely than do the examples at Fontainebleau and the Grand Trianon.
Several other examples of this distinguished model are known. At least a pair were in the Chateau de Grand-Vaux and are illustrated in P.Marmottan, Le Style Empire, vol.V, Paris, 1930, pl.32. They appear to have been of the Fontainebleau variant. Marmottan had a pair of five-light examples in his own collection that are very close to the design of the present lot (ibid., vol.III, Paris, 1925, pl.34). Another pair of ten branch lights, close to the Trianon model, was in the Salon Rose at the Hotel Beauharnais (see: Le Style Empire, L'Hôtel Beauharnais, Librairie centrale d'Art et d'Architecture, Paris, 1945, pls. 38 and 46) The design and the Trianon type are illustrated in H.Ottomeyer, P.Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p.356, figs. 5.10.4 and 5.10.5.