AN EMPIRE ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIRE FENDER

The impressive size of these lions, and the grand balustrade that links them, is rare for fenders and chenets during the early part of the 19th century. This large scale, combined with the exceptional quality of the casting, makes the present example a gloriously grand statement of the Empire style. A similar example was delivered in 1804 to the Château de Fontainebleau (illustrated in J.P. Samouyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 265).