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Lot Essay
These wall-lights are after the model listed on a bill from the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier:- Vendue a Milor Coventry Par Poirier Md. a Paris Rue St Honore Du 9 7bre 1763 Louis 26 Deux paires de bras a 2 branches a l'antique premiere grandeur . . . . . . . . . . . a 312 624. These latter wall-lights were sold by the Trustees of the Croome Estate at Christie's London, 13 June 1991, lots 30-31.
Poirier's 1763 bill makes the Croome wall-lights among the earliest recorded examples in the neo-classical style. Eriksen (op. cit., p.98) notes that two pairs of sconces, almost certainly made in the neo-classical style for Lalive de Jully, were sold in his sale in 1769 and he also records a pair signed by Philippe Caffieri (1714-1774) and dated 1759. The Croome wall-lights predate the other well-known datable examples - such as those sent by the marchand-mercier Testard to the Court at Parma in 1764.
Poirier's 1763 bill makes the Croome wall-lights among the earliest recorded examples in the neo-classical style. Eriksen (op. cit., p.98) notes that two pairs of sconces, almost certainly made in the neo-classical style for Lalive de Jully, were sold in his sale in 1769 and he also records a pair signed by Philippe Caffieri (1714-1774) and dated 1759. The Croome wall-lights predate the other well-known datable examples - such as those sent by the marchand-mercier Testard to the Court at Parma in 1764.