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Lot Essay
The C couronné poinçon was a tax mark employed on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.
Designed in the Louis XV 'pittoresque' style popularised by Nicolas Pineau, these magnificent wall-lights can be attributed to the sculpteur, fondeur et ciseleur du roi Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755). Only one other comparable pair of wall-lights is recorded; undoubtedly executed in the same workshop and also stamped with the C couronné poinçon, this is now the the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and is illustrated in C. Bremer-David, Decorative Arts, An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, no.167, p,102. Measuring 28 1/2 in (72.4cm) high, they are mounted with a second putti, and the putti are purely playful, rather than being emblematic of the Arts. It is not unreasonable to surmise that the dragons were added on the current pair to replace putti such as those found on the Getty examples.
As Peter Hughes noted, op. cit, these same putti emblematic of Sculpture and Literature can be seen in reverse on a pair of chenets in the Wallace Collection that can be confidently attributed to Caffiéri. Although dating from circa 1765, Hughes concluded that the Wallace chenets were executed by Philippe Caffiéri (maître fondeur in 1756) reusing models of infants designed by his father, Jacques.
As Pierre Verlet (op. cit.) remarked, these wall-lights are extremely close in feeling to the celebrated pair of chandeliers supplied circa 1750 to Madame de Pompadour. Recorded in the Inventory drawn up following the marquise's death in 1764 in her hôtel on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, they were moved to the Bibliothèque Mazarine, Paris during the Revolution, where they remain to this day (ibid, p.288. fig.324). Surmounted by closely related cherubs supporting the marquises' arms, these chandeliers have traditionally been attributed to Jacques Caffiéri, as he is known to have worked for the marquise at that time. Certainly, it was to Caffiéri that her lover, Louis XV turned for the chandelier now in the Wallace Collection (F83) that he gave to his daughter, Louis-Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma; this latter chandelier is signed and dated CAFFIERI A PARIS 1751.
In Verlet's own words (op. cit.), these wall-lights are of a dessin superbe et du plus noble Louis XV. Nous ignorons le nom des auteurs. On songe à J. Caffieri et à une commande de Mme de Pompadour. Le mouvement est proche de celui des lustres de la Mazarine...On admire la recherche de symétrie qui, malgré des différences voulues, fournit un équilibre entre les deux bras.
Designed in the Louis XV 'pittoresque' style popularised by Nicolas Pineau, these magnificent wall-lights can be attributed to the sculpteur, fondeur et ciseleur du roi Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755). Only one other comparable pair of wall-lights is recorded; undoubtedly executed in the same workshop and also stamped with the C couronné poinçon, this is now the the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and is illustrated in C. Bremer-David, Decorative Arts, An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, no.167, p,102. Measuring 28 1/2 in (72.4cm) high, they are mounted with a second putti, and the putti are purely playful, rather than being emblematic of the Arts. It is not unreasonable to surmise that the dragons were added on the current pair to replace putti such as those found on the Getty examples.
As Peter Hughes noted, op. cit, these same putti emblematic of Sculpture and Literature can be seen in reverse on a pair of chenets in the Wallace Collection that can be confidently attributed to Caffiéri. Although dating from circa 1765, Hughes concluded that the Wallace chenets were executed by Philippe Caffiéri (maître fondeur in 1756) reusing models of infants designed by his father, Jacques.
As Pierre Verlet (op. cit.) remarked, these wall-lights are extremely close in feeling to the celebrated pair of chandeliers supplied circa 1750 to Madame de Pompadour. Recorded in the Inventory drawn up following the marquise's death in 1764 in her hôtel on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, they were moved to the Bibliothèque Mazarine, Paris during the Revolution, where they remain to this day (ibid, p.288. fig.324). Surmounted by closely related cherubs supporting the marquises' arms, these chandeliers have traditionally been attributed to Jacques Caffiéri, as he is known to have worked for the marquise at that time. Certainly, it was to Caffiéri that her lover, Louis XV turned for the chandelier now in the Wallace Collection (F83) that he gave to his daughter, Louis-Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma; this latter chandelier is signed and dated CAFFIERI A PARIS 1751.
In Verlet's own words (op. cit.), these wall-lights are of a dessin superbe et du plus noble Louis XV. Nous ignorons le nom des auteurs. On songe à J. Caffieri et à une commande de Mme de Pompadour. Le mouvement est proche de celui des lustres de la Mazarine...On admire la recherche de symétrie qui, malgré des différences voulues, fournit un équilibre entre les deux bras.