A PAIR OF LOUIS XV/XVI ORMOLU CHENETS

CIRCA 1770

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XV/XVI ORMOLU CHENETS
circa 1770
Each with classical urn en flambeau cast with lion's mask issuing fruit swags on monopodia supports, the spiral-fluted base hung with a garland and frieze of rinceaux on a blued steel background with paw feet, the stepped plinth with leaf-and-dart border
17in. (43cm.) high, 19½in. (49cm.) wide, 9in. (23cm.) deep (2)

Provenance

M. Hubert de Saint-Senoch, Pavillon de Bidaine, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 4-6 December 1983, lot 298

Lot Essay

The design of these chenets relates to similar forms by Philippe Caffieri (1714-1774) listed in the inventory of his stock made in 1770. An almost identical pair of chenets now in the Mobilier National is illustrated in S. Eriksen, Early Neoclassicism in France, 1974, p.360, fig. 231. Other related models are at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, the Residenz Museum, Munich and the château de Fontainebleau.