Lot Essay
A watercolour attributed to the workshop of Pierre-Philippe Thomire, of circa 1785 in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, shows a chenet of similar form (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et.al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 298, fig. 4.18.6). A pair of chenets by Haure, executed in 1786 and made for the Salon de la Paix at Versailles, surmounted by a very similar lion figure, is illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe siècle, Cahors, 1987, p. 369, fig. 380. The enduring popularity of this model, probably after the Antique, is shown by its recurrence on a chenet supplied by Galle for Fontainebleau in 1805, illustrated in J.P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 256, fig. 256.
An identical pair of chenets was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 14 June 1990, lot 49 and a further pair was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 9 December 1994, lot 319.
An identical pair of chenets was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 14 June 1990, lot 49 and a further pair was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 9 December 1994, lot 319.