A LOUIS XIV ORMOLU SIX-LIGHT CHANDELIER
A LOUIS XIV ORMOLU SIX-LIGHT CHANDELIER

CIRCA 1700-10, IN THE MANNER OF ANDR-CHARLES BOULLE

細節
A LOUIS XIV ORMOLU SIX-LIGHT CHANDELIER
Circa 1700-10, In the manner of Andr-Charles Boulle
The ring-suspension and baluster stem above a central fluted vase stem enriched with female caryatid volutes emblematic of Diana and flanked by acanthus and strapwork scrolls centered by lambrequin-sprays, the gadrooned base above an acanthus-wrapped domed, stepped socle, the circular platform with breakfronted cherub masks above berried finials issuing acanthus-cast scrolled arms with pounced panels enriched with rosettes and terminating in dished, gadrooned drip-pans cast with scrolling acanthus and with gadrooned urn-form bobches, above a fluted tapering boss with berried finial
24in. (63cm.) high, 26in. (67.5cm.) diameter

拍品專文

Designed in the Louis XIV 'antique' manner, with its reeded and acanthus-wrapped vase stem, female caryatid heads representative of Diana and cherubic masks emblematic of the Winds, this chandelier is related to documented patterns by the bniste du roi, Andr-Charles Boulle (1641-1732). Although no direct pattern for this chandelier has so far been traced, two drawings attributed to Claude Ballin in the Tessin Collection display closely related elements. The first, dating from circa 1685, depicts a chandelier with very similar husk-trailed panelled S-scroll branches supported by putto-masks with C-scroll head-dress of this identical form, whilst the second shows acanthus leaves wrapping the branches and S-scroll volutes flanking a central vase. Now held in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, they are illustrated in H. Ottomeyer/P. Prschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich 1986, pp.50 & 54, figs, 1.6.2 & 1.6.9.

A further engraving, first published by Daniel Marot in his Nouveaux Livre d'Orfevrie Invent par Marot Architecte du Roi of 1710, although conceptually of twenty or thirty years earlier, illustrates several chandeliers with lambrequin-capped female masks, as well as the distinctive acanthus-wrapped S-scroll arms.

A chandelier of almost identical form and undoubtedly from the same workshop, save for the slightly different corona, was sold from the collection of Ren Fribourg, Sotheby's London, Part I, 28 June 1963, lot 152. A chandelier with very similar stem, attributed to Boulle, is illustrated in T. Strange, French Interiors, Furniture, Decoration, London, n.d., p.143, whilst a further example was exhibited in 'Louis XIV Faste et Dcors,' at the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs, Paris, 1960, no.195.

ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE

Andr-Charles Boulle was awarded the title of master cabinet-maker before 1666 and in 1672 was granted the Royal priviledge of lodging in the Galeries du Louvre. In the same year, Boulle was appointed cabinet-maker and sculptor to Louis XIV, allowing him to produce works in gilt-bronze, such as chandeliers, wall-lights, and mounts for his own furniture. Although strict guild regulations usually prevented artists from practicing two professions simultaneously, Boulle's favored position allowed him protected status and exempted him from the guild rules.