IN THE MANNER OF JEAN-JOSEPH DE SAINT-GERMAIN, MID-18TH CENTURY

Various aspects of these exquisitely chased wall-lights suggest that they may have been executed by an artist working in the circle of the celebrated bronzier Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain, maître in 1748, who was also farmiliar with the art of silversmithing. The chasing of the stag's head's consists of fine lines and is reminiscent of the remarkable German silver vessels in the form of animals, which were executed in the late 16th/early 17th Century. Additionally, the reverse of the backplates have received some finishing, similar to the treatment of the underside of silver candlesticks in the mid-18th Century. Interestingly, a pair of closely related wall-lights stamped by Saint-Germain, previously in the French trade, were executed not in gilt but in silvered bronze, again suggesting this link (H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 109, fig. 2.2.5).
An extremely rare early Louis XV ormolu frame, with a closely related stag's head and similar hunting trophies, was sold from the Alexander collection, Christie's New York, 30 April 1999, lot 127.