IN THE MANNER OF ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE

This chandelier is clearly inspired by the oeuvre of André-Charles Boulle, who was appointed ébéniste du Roi in 1672. The closest parrallels are the set of four eight-light chandeliers in the Bibliothèque Mazarin, Paris (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, fig., 1.6.10), which were confiscated from the duc de Brissac in 1795. This form, with term figures flanking either a vase or altar on the central stem, appears on other chandeliers attributed to Boulle, including one in the Louvre (op. cit, p. 52, fig. 1.6.5.), another in the Royal Palace, Stockholm, and another formerly in the Lopez-Willshaw Collection and now on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (op. cit., p. 52, fig. 1.6.6).

A design by Daniel Marot, from his Nouveaux Livre d'Orfevrie Inventé par Marot Architecte du Roi, published in 1710 but conceptually dating from twenty to thirty years earlier, shows the use of arms issuing from masks as well as husk-trails decorating the channeled arms.