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Lot Essay
Of exceptional design, casting and chasing, the present wall-lights are a fine manifestation of the Antique-inspired style, `le classicisme français,' which prevailed across the arts at the court of Louis XIV in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Set with lion’s pelts and classically inspired medallion reliefs – possibly representing Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great – these appliques of a distinct, architectural form relate to designs by André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), who created celebrated cabinetry and gilt-bronze objects for some of the 18th century’s most renowned patrons, and to works by several of his contemporaries.
In 1672, Boulle was made ébéniste, ciseleur, doreur et sculpteur du roi, in which capacity he was able to create gilt-bronzes in a grand taste evoked by the present lot, in addition to the spectacular furniture for which he was so renowned. A series of engravings of Boulle’s designs by Pierre Mariette II (1634-1716) and his son, Jean (1660-1742), the Nouveaux Deisseins de Meubles et Ouvrages de Bronzes et de Marqueterie, attest to the high quality of his work and, indeed, to its wide-ranging production. The present wall-lights relate to two designs for a `Bras pour une cheminée de Cabinet’ on plate number eight of these engravings, with arms terminating in similar inward and outward scrolls and gadrooned drip pans. While the exact date of publication for these engravings has been a subject of scholarly discourse, Reinier Baarsen suggests that it, `is generally assumed to be around 1715, towards the end of Boulle’s career’ (R. Baarsen, Paris 1650-1900 Decorative Arts in the Rijksmuseum, New Haven and London, 2013, p. 87, no. 15). It is, therefore, possible to similarly date the present wall-lights, as they are stylistically well-placed within the production of the era, and their careful construction and casting reinforce the same.
The present lot can also be related to a series of chandeliers attributed to Boulle, with central stems decorated with medallions of classical figures in relief, with similar chasing and set within related moulded borders: one is in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum (76.DF.13), one is in the Musée du Louvre (OA 10531), another in the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris, and a final example by Boulle in the Jones bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum (965-1882). Boulle was a known enthusiast of medals, with thousands in his own collection. The great cabinetmaker also created a celebrated series of `Armoires à sept medailles’ incorporating medals celebrating the glories of Louis XIV, of which various examples – often paired with cabinets made later in the 18th century – are known, including a pair formerly in the collection of Ogden Mills and sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 2013, lot 20 (£935,475).
A virtually identical pair of wall-lights was sold Sotheby’s, Paris, 18 October 2006, lot 16. A further comparison can be drawn to an un-attributed pair of Régence ormolu wall-lights formerly in the collection of Jean Bloch and sold Christie’s, Paris, 16 December 2003, lot 314, which has a nearly identical arm to the present lot. The present wall-lights also relate to a design by Daniel Marot (1661-1752) in his Nouveaux livre d’ornaments, pour l’utillitée des sculpteurs et orfeures, inventé et gravéz á La Haye, published in the early 18th century, and which includes an engraving for a chandelier with a support set with a classical medallion. When the aforementioned virtually identical wall-lights were sold, they were preceded in the sale by a pair of wall-lights of similar design with two out-scrolled arms (Sotheby’s, Paris, 18 October 2006, lot 15), which are, like the present lot, a fine evocation of the last flourishing of `le classicisme français.’
In 1672, Boulle was made ébéniste, ciseleur, doreur et sculpteur du roi, in which capacity he was able to create gilt-bronzes in a grand taste evoked by the present lot, in addition to the spectacular furniture for which he was so renowned. A series of engravings of Boulle’s designs by Pierre Mariette II (1634-1716) and his son, Jean (1660-1742), the Nouveaux Deisseins de Meubles et Ouvrages de Bronzes et de Marqueterie, attest to the high quality of his work and, indeed, to its wide-ranging production. The present wall-lights relate to two designs for a `Bras pour une cheminée de Cabinet’ on plate number eight of these engravings, with arms terminating in similar inward and outward scrolls and gadrooned drip pans. While the exact date of publication for these engravings has been a subject of scholarly discourse, Reinier Baarsen suggests that it, `is generally assumed to be around 1715, towards the end of Boulle’s career’ (R. Baarsen, Paris 1650-1900 Decorative Arts in the Rijksmuseum, New Haven and London, 2013, p. 87, no. 15). It is, therefore, possible to similarly date the present wall-lights, as they are stylistically well-placed within the production of the era, and their careful construction and casting reinforce the same.
The present lot can also be related to a series of chandeliers attributed to Boulle, with central stems decorated with medallions of classical figures in relief, with similar chasing and set within related moulded borders: one is in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum (76.DF.13), one is in the Musée du Louvre (OA 10531), another in the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris, and a final example by Boulle in the Jones bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum (965-1882). Boulle was a known enthusiast of medals, with thousands in his own collection. The great cabinetmaker also created a celebrated series of `Armoires à sept medailles’ incorporating medals celebrating the glories of Louis XIV, of which various examples – often paired with cabinets made later in the 18th century – are known, including a pair formerly in the collection of Ogden Mills and sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 2013, lot 20 (£935,475).
A virtually identical pair of wall-lights was sold Sotheby’s, Paris, 18 October 2006, lot 16. A further comparison can be drawn to an un-attributed pair of Régence ormolu wall-lights formerly in the collection of Jean Bloch and sold Christie’s, Paris, 16 December 2003, lot 314, which has a nearly identical arm to the present lot. The present wall-lights also relate to a design by Daniel Marot (1661-1752) in his Nouveaux livre d’ornaments, pour l’utillitée des sculpteurs et orfeures, inventé et gravéz á La Haye, published in the early 18th century, and which includes an engraving for a chandelier with a support set with a classical medallion. When the aforementioned virtually identical wall-lights were sold, they were preceded in the sale by a pair of wall-lights of similar design with two out-scrolled arms (Sotheby’s, Paris, 18 October 2006, lot 15), which are, like the present lot, a fine evocation of the last flourishing of `le classicisme français.’