CAST ALMOST CERTAINLY BY VAL D'OSNE, FROM MODELS BY MATHURIN MOREAU, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

The present pair of figures are based on engravings of Statues (see illustration above) published by the celebrated sculptor, Mathurin Moreau (d. 1912). As their trade catalogues reveal, Moreau's oeuvre was extensively reproduced by the Val d'Osne foundry during the latter quarter of the 19th century. Established in 1835 by André, Val d'Osne was subsequently renamed Houille et Cie. in 1867 when taken over by Barbezat. By 1870, however, it was known as the Société Anonyme des Hautes Fourneaux & Fonderies du Val d'Osne, exhibiting its wares in a Paris showroom at Boulevard Voltaire.
Another pair of these torchères, with polychrome decoration, sold Christie's London, 12 December 1996, lot 146 (£57,500).