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Lot Essay
With their Bacchic ram's-headed urns, panelled arms and swagged laurel baguettes, these chenets reflect the influence of the bronzier and sculpteur Jean-Louis Prieur (maître in 1769). A design of similar character, dating from circa 1770 is in the Odiot album attributed to Prieur, although it is surmounted by a Bacchic putto resting after harvesting grapes (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Band I, 3.14.7.). This design in turn relates to the chenets with ram's-headed vase and Bacchic putto playing with a ram supplied for the Petit Trianon at Versailles (illustrated op. cit., 4.11.9).
Jean-Louis Prieur is first recorded in 1765, when he was appointed as a sculpteur to the Academy de St.-Luc. Received as a maître in 1769, he established his workshop in the Faubourg St-Denis à l'enseigne des armes d'Angleterre. He subsequently styled himself as sculpteur, cizeleur et doreur du Roy. Aside from enjoying Royal patronage in Paris from not only Louis XVI, but also the comte d'Artois and the Prince de Condé, Prieur also found favour abroad, particularly with King Stanislas-Auguste Poniatowski, King of Poland for Warsaw between 1766-early 1770s. Prieur published a series of engavings in 1783.
A pair of chenets of this model, retaining their iron arms to the reverse, was sold from the Paulme Collection, Paris, 16 March 1943, lot 126.
Jean-Louis Prieur is first recorded in 1765, when he was appointed as a sculpteur to the Academy de St.-Luc. Received as a maître in 1769, he established his workshop in the Faubourg St-Denis à l'enseigne des armes d'Angleterre. He subsequently styled himself as sculpteur, cizeleur et doreur du Roy. Aside from enjoying Royal patronage in Paris from not only Louis XVI, but also the comte d'Artois and the Prince de Condé, Prieur also found favour abroad, particularly with King Stanislas-Auguste Poniatowski, King of Poland for Warsaw between 1766-early 1770s. Prieur published a series of engavings in 1783.
A pair of chenets of this model, retaining their iron arms to the reverse, was sold from the Paulme Collection, Paris, 16 March 1943, lot 126.