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Lot Essay
The C Couronné poinçon was a tax mark employed between March 1745 and February 1749 on any alloy containing copper.
These impressive chenêts are each surmounted by a chimera, a much favoured model in the Régence period, which was for instance widely employed by the maître sculpteur Charles Cressent. Related chimerae appear on a drawing by the ornemaniste Nicolas Pineau, which is now in the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Prüschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol.I, p.66 fig.1.9.19).
Closely related pairs of chenêts were sold Ader, Paris, 24 March 1955, lot 64; Couturier Nicolay, Paris, 31 March 1994, lot 52 and Sotheby's, London, 16 June 1995, lot 1. A further example is illustrated by P. Lemonnier in Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p.99.
Charles Cressent produced chenêts of a related design but with lions-carried bases. A pair from the d'Ennery collection is illustrated in A. Pradère, Charles Cressent, Dijon, 2003, p.307 no.276 while other examples were sold, Philips, New York, 5 December 2001, lot 10.
These impressive chenêts are each surmounted by a chimera, a much favoured model in the Régence period, which was for instance widely employed by the maître sculpteur Charles Cressent. Related chimerae appear on a drawing by the ornemaniste Nicolas Pineau, which is now in the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Prüschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol.I, p.66 fig.1.9.19).
Closely related pairs of chenêts were sold Ader, Paris, 24 March 1955, lot 64; Couturier Nicolay, Paris, 31 March 1994, lot 52 and Sotheby's, London, 16 June 1995, lot 1. A further example is illustrated by P. Lemonnier in Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p.99.
Charles Cressent produced chenêts of a related design but with lions-carried bases. A pair from the d'Ennery collection is illustrated in A. Pradère, Charles Cressent, Dijon, 2003, p.307 no.276 while other examples were sold, Philips, New York, 5 December 2001, lot 10.