Lot Essay
The design of these torchères indicate that they are the product of a Parisian atelier strongly influenced by the work of Pierre Gole (1620-1684), the ébéniste to Louis XIV. They are closest to a pair of torchères now in the Musée Carnavelet, Paris and formerly in the collection of Mme. Henriette Bouvier (illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, "The Henriette Bouvier Collection at the Musée Carnavelet", Apollo, 1969, pp. 204-224). The distinctive marquetery and shape of the legs is closely related to those found on a small tripod table possibly made for the Grand Dauphin and now in the J.Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (illustrated in C. Bremer David, Decorative Arts, 1993, p.46, no.57). The gilded putti supporting the top are very similar to those found in the base of the bureau ordered from Gole by Louis XIV and now at Boughton House (illustrated in T. Murdoch, Boughton House: an English Versailles, 1992, p.120, pl. 70). Another nearly identical pair (lacking all the carved elements) was sold Sotheby's New York, 10 December 1994, lot 280.