.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
These impressive wall-lights, with richly scrolling arms wrapped with Roman acanthus and laurel swags about a central oak-wreathed Bacchic mask, surmounted by a flaming urn, reflect the avant garde goût gréc designs of the 1760's and 1770's produced by influential ornemanistes such as Jean-Louis Prieur (c. 1725- c. 1785) and Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-1791).
Identical bobèches and the same overall form feature on a pair of wall-lights supplied to the Maréchal de Contades, circa 1772-4 for his château de Montgeoffroy which he was modernising (illustrated in S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 215).
Other closely related wall-lights include:
-an identical pair from the collection of the duc de Grammont, sold Paris, 15 June 1934, lot 73
-a pair with Partridge, London (illustrated in Recent Acquisitions, London, 1995, pp. 110-111, cat. 45)
-a pair with identical bobèches in the grand salon of the château de la Roche-Guyon, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 8 December 1987, lot 107.
Identical bobèches and the same overall form feature on a pair of wall-lights supplied to the Maréchal de Contades, circa 1772-4 for his château de Montgeoffroy which he was modernising (illustrated in S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 215).
Other closely related wall-lights include:
-an identical pair from the collection of the duc de Grammont, sold Paris, 15 June 1934, lot 73
-a pair with Partridge, London (illustrated in Recent Acquisitions, London, 1995, pp. 110-111, cat. 45)
-a pair with identical bobèches in the grand salon of the château de la Roche-Guyon, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 8 December 1987, lot 107.