LAST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU PRESSE-PAPIERS
LAST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
Each in the form reclining winged putto, one resting on a dog, the other on a sheep, and holding portrait medallions of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, on a entrelac cast stepped base with spiral ribbon moulding
6 in. (15 cm.) high; 6 ½ in. (16.5 cm.) wide; 4 in. (10 cm.) deep

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Brought to you by

Paul Gallois

pgallois@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2260

Lot Essay

The design for these superb presse-papiers is related to the work of Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755), sculpteur, fondeur et ciseleur du Roi. Closely comparable bronze groups on ormolu rococo bases are in the Wallace Collection, cats S206 and S207 (Sir J.G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues. Sculpture, London, 1981, p. 76, pl. 52). The winged cherubs are holding portrait medallions of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, which relate closely to the oeuvre of Pierre-Simon-Benjamin Duvivier (d. 1819), engraver of coins and medals.

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