A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU THREE-LIGHT WALL-LIGHTS
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A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU THREE-LIGHT WALL-LIGHTS

Details
A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU THREE-LIGHT WALL-LIGHTS
Each with a flambeau finial issuing from an acanthus-cast and fluted torch, with three scrolled foliate branches with turned nozzles and drip-pans, with berried boss, drilled for electricity
27 in. (68.5 cm.) high; 15½ in. (39.5 cm.) wide; 10 in. (25.5 cm.) deep (2)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

A virtually identical set of six wall-lights was acquired by J. Paul Getty in the 1970s (purchased in 1974 and 1977 from Alexander and Berendt Ltd. as a set of four and a pair respectively) and are now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California. They derive from a design executed circa 1770 by Richard de Lalonde (n.d.), also in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (79 GA 179), which is illustrated in C. Bremer-David, The J. Paul Getty Handbook, Malibu, 1993, p. 180, fig. 304. The design was formerly discussed in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et.al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 172, fig. 3.5.3 and was then attributed to Jean-Louis Prieur.

A watercolour depicting the Grand salon of the château de Chantilly shows a pair of wall-lights similar to this model. The watercolur is part of an album which was presented to Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich of Russia in 1782, but has since been returned to the Musée Condé at Chantilly. The Grand Duke subsequently acquired a set of four identical wall-lights for the so-called Tapestry Study at Pavlovsk, which are illustrated in E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk, the collection, Paris, 1993, p. 178 and fig. 52.

A pair of related wall-lights was sold anonymously, Sotheby's New York, 18 May 1991, lot 26, and a further pair which was almost certainly acquired by Peter, 5th Earl Cowper (d. 1836) for Panshanger, Hertfordshire, was sold by Mr. and Mrs. Julian Salmond, in these Rooms, 7 December 1995, lot 19.

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