Lot Essay
These chenets are recorded in the Cabinet du Roi in the inventory of the château d'Eu, dated 1 January 1841 (folio 66, verso), no. 1483. They are described as 'Un feu doré et ciselé vases, figures et guirlandes avec chenets en feu' (Archives de la Maison de France, 300 AP (1) 1585)
The château d'Eu was owned by a grandson of Louis XIV and Mme. de Montespan, who was styled the comte d'Eu. Towards the end of the 18th Century the house passed by marriage to the Orléans branch of the Bourbon family, to whom it was restored after the Napoleonic era. Upon the death of his mother in 1821, Louis-Philippe inherited the château d'Eu and began its restoration. He furnished it in part with his deceased mother's furniture, the duchesse d'Orléans, who was the daughter of the duc de Penthièvre.
The crowned château brand also appears on the celebrated pair of encoignures by Jean-Pierre Latz (Akram Ojjeh Collection, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 44)
Several progressive designs for urns and vases executed between 1760 and 1765 feature similar satyrs' masks with widespread horns, including that by Charles de Wailly of 1760 (S. Eriksen, 'Early Neo-Classicism in France', London, 1974, fig. 327). The overall shape of the urn, however, may well derive from a design by Jean-Charles Delafosse of 1765 (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, fig. 3.8.7).
The château d'Eu was owned by a grandson of Louis XIV and Mme. de Montespan, who was styled the comte d'Eu. Towards the end of the 18th Century the house passed by marriage to the Orléans branch of the Bourbon family, to whom it was restored after the Napoleonic era. Upon the death of his mother in 1821, Louis-Philippe inherited the château d'Eu and began its restoration. He furnished it in part with his deceased mother's furniture, the duchesse d'Orléans, who was the daughter of the duc de Penthièvre.
The crowned château brand also appears on the celebrated pair of encoignures by Jean-Pierre Latz (Akram Ojjeh Collection, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 44)
Several progressive designs for urns and vases executed between 1760 and 1765 feature similar satyrs' masks with widespread horns, including that by Charles de Wailly of 1760 (S. Eriksen, 'Early Neo-Classicism in France', London, 1974, fig. 327). The overall shape of the urn, however, may well derive from a design by Jean-Charles Delafosse of 1765 (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, fig. 3.8.7).