CIRCA 1765

JEAN LE PAUTRE (1618-1682) WAS A PROLIFIC DESIGNER AND ENGRAVER OF A WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECTS RANGING FROM ARCHITECTURAL INTERIORS, LANDSCAPES AND DECORATIVE ARTS. HE WAS ELECTED DESSIGNATEUR ET GRAVEUR TO THE FRENCH ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1660 AND HIS FOLIOS OF ETCHINGS, INCLUDING LES CABINETS, LIVRE DE LIT A LA ROMAINE, LIVRE DE MIROIRS, TABLES ET GUERIDONS WERE INFLUENTIAL IN THE DISSEMINATION OF THE STYLE ASSOCIATED WITH LOUIS XIV. IN LONDON, HIS DESIGNS INFLUENCED SILVERSMITHS IN THE 1680S AND CONTINUED AFTER HIS DEATH. HIS DESIGN FOR A STAND OR CANDELABRUM IN HIS NOUVEAU LIVRE DE TERMES WITH ITS FLOWER-DRAPED FEMALE CARYTIDS HOLDING AN URN WAS CLEARLY THE INSPIRATION FOR THE PRESENT LOT. A CLOSELY RELATED EXAMPLE IN SILVER BY THOMAS HEMING, LONDON, 1770, WITH A CLASSICALLY DRAPED FEMALE FIGURE AND THE SAME SHAPED MOLDED BASE, SOLD CHRISTIE'S LONDON, 12 JUNE 2006, LOT 113.