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Lot Essay
This monumental wall-light - exceptional both in its scale and in the quality of execution - is of identical model to the set of four now at Schloss Charlottenburg, Germany. These latter wall-lights, attributed to Thomire, may perhaps have been among the bronzes purchased in Paris by King Frederick William in 1815. Although placed in the Mausoleum of Queen Loise, they were not part of Karl-Friederich Schinkel's original interior scheme and were presumably moved there from elsewhere in the castle.
A further pair in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, London, is illustrated in situ in the Grand Hall in J. Harris, G. de Bellaigue and O. Millar, Buckingham Palace and its Treasures, London, 1968, p.42. Although very much in the taste expounded by George, Prince of Wales, later George IV at Carlton House, these latter wall-lights are known to have been purchased by Queen Mary in 1929.
In its overall design, these wall-lights share much in common with the oeuvre of the Imperial architects Percier and Fontaine, and indeed Charles Percier's 1802 sketch for the furnishings of the Empress Josephine's apartements at the château de Saint-Cloud depicts a closely related winged maiden standing upon a globe and issuing candelabra branches. This latter sketch is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Band II, Munich, 1986, 5.2.1.
A further pair in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, London, is illustrated in situ in the Grand Hall in J. Harris, G. de Bellaigue and O. Millar, Buckingham Palace and its Treasures, London, 1968, p.42. Although very much in the taste expounded by George, Prince of Wales, later George IV at Carlton House, these latter wall-lights are known to have been purchased by Queen Mary in 1929.
In its overall design, these wall-lights share much in common with the oeuvre of the Imperial architects Percier and Fontaine, and indeed Charles Percier's 1802 sketch for the furnishings of the Empress Josephine's apartements at the château de Saint-Cloud depicts a closely related winged maiden standing upon a globe and issuing candelabra branches. This latter sketch is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Band II, Munich, 1986, 5.2.1.