.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
These centrepieces are closely related to a design attributed to the workshops of Pierre-François Feuchère (1737-1823, elected maître in 1763), which is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (illustrated above). Although the treatment of the columnar base and pierced basket are variations, the treatment of the putti holding aloft the basket, the distinctive ribbon-twist border immediately above their hands and the stiff-leaf moulded plinth are extremely close.
Pierre-François Feuchère, sworn into the guild of ciseleurs-doreurs in 1767, was a member of a prominent family of gilders, who along with his father, supplied gilt-bronzes to various members of the Royal family. The family firm survived the Revolution and continued their successful business through the Empire and Restauration periods.
An almost identical set of four centrepieces from an extensive and princely 'surtout de table', undoubtedly executed in the same workshop and subsequently inherited from King Vittorio Emanuele by a member of the Royal House of Savoy, was sold at Sotheby's London, 13 June 2001, lot 397 (£37,300; $51,847). These were reputedly from the collection of Louis Philippe at the Palais Royal, Paris. A further pair from this same source, with identical putto and bases but with differently decorated baskets, was sold as lot 399 (£20,050).
Pierre-François Feuchère, sworn into the guild of ciseleurs-doreurs in 1767, was a member of a prominent family of gilders, who along with his father, supplied gilt-bronzes to various members of the Royal family. The family firm survived the Revolution and continued their successful business through the Empire and Restauration periods.
An almost identical set of four centrepieces from an extensive and princely 'surtout de table', undoubtedly executed in the same workshop and subsequently inherited from King Vittorio Emanuele by a member of the Royal House of Savoy, was sold at Sotheby's London, 13 June 2001, lot 397 (£37,300; $51,847). These were reputedly from the collection of Louis Philippe at the Palais Royal, Paris. A further pair from this same source, with identical putto and bases but with differently decorated baskets, was sold as lot 399 (£20,050).