BY HENRI VIAN, PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Henri Vian's firm, which retailed from the Hôtel Salé at 5 rue de Thorigny in Paris, was principally concerned with the production of lighting fixtures based on celebrated 18th century designs. Upon Vian's death in 1905, the business was continued by his wife and son until 1944, when the city of Paris ultimately took over the premises for the l'Ecole des Métiers d'Art.
These wall lights, conceived as a festive sporting-trophy, are inspired by the Louis XVI model by Gallien and Bureaux, which features a ribbon-tied bow-knot backplate hung with oak leaves and three hunting-horn shaped candlearms, suspending tassels and a stag's foot. A set of Empire wall lights based on the Gallien/Bureaux model in the Salon de Compagnie at Versailles, delivered by Gallé on 23 December 1809 is illustrated in D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Petit Trianon, Paris, 1989, p. 98.