CIRCA 1880

These monumental wall-lights, inspired by pittoresque designs published by ornemanistes such as Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, belong to a group discussed by G. de Bellaigue in The James A. de Rothschild Collection, London, 1974, no. 214, pp. 786-7. Comprising at least 12 pairs, it includes the set of eight acquired for Waddesdon by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and two further pairs reputedly owned by the duc de Choiseul at Chanteloup, which are now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu. As de Bellaigue has suggested, both the Waddesdon and Getty wall-lights are cast from the same model and identically chased, suggesting that all are probably of 19th century manufacture, rather than any earlier, as had previously been thought. The large areas of matt gilding on the wall-lights further strengthen this hypothesis.
A further pair of this model from a distinguished Private Collection was sold anonymously at Christie's New York, 21 May 1996, lot 338 ($52,000 plus premium).