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Lot Essay
Mains à papiers or presse-papiers of this type are described in the Inventory taken following the death of the banker Nicolas Beaujon in January 1787. Placed upon a Louis XV lacquer bureau plat in the grand salon on the first floor of his Parisien hôtel, now the Elysée Palace, they were listed as:-
'Deux petits chevaux de bronze en mains à papiers sur soc (i.e. socle) de cuivre doré....'
These were probably sold in the sale that followed, which began on 25 April 1787. The closely related pair sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 9 ($204,000) has been identified with the Beaujon pair, although this description could equally well apply to the Wildenstein pair.
'Deux petits chevaux de bronze en mains à papiers sur soc (i.e. socle) de cuivre doré....'
These were probably sold in the sale that followed, which began on 25 April 1787. The closely related pair sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 9 ($204,000) has been identified with the Beaujon pair, although this description could equally well apply to the Wildenstein pair.