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Lot Essay
These wall lights are part of a group of delicate and extremely refined group of single-branch wall lights traditonally attibuted to François Rémond. They are remarkable for their unusually small proportions and plateau-form drip-pans with pierced decoration -- many of the other backplates, however, have either an urn and trailing fruiting vines or adapted pilaster supports, rather than the trophies of the present pair. A model of two-branch wall-lights described as bras a plaque or bras a plateau are listed in the workshop ledgers for Rémond in the Archives Nationale, Paris during the years 1779-1787, of which a total of 23 were supplied to the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. Some entries mention a version with suspended chains from the gallery. A pair of wall lights of this related two-branch model, which also include a pendant finial of grapes were sold in these Rooms, 21 October 1997, lot 295, and a set of four further wall lights formerly in the collection Baroness Renée Becker, is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (F.J.B Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol. II cat. no. 238 A-D).
François Rémond (1747-1812) was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of his time, rapidly rising to prominence after his maîtrise to the point that in 1786 he had the fourth highest capitalization out of over 800 bronziers in Paris. He worked as a fondeur and ciseleur, as well as a doreur and thus was able to exercise considerable artistic control over his output. In particular, he worked extensively for Dominique Daguerre, for whom he supplied work valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres between 1778 and 1792. Latterly he also worked for Martin-Eloi Lignereux, one of the most important marchands-merciers of the early 19th century (C. Baulez, 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Estampille L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, p. 86 and 92).
François Rémond (1747-1812) was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of his time, rapidly rising to prominence after his maîtrise to the point that in 1786 he had the fourth highest capitalization out of over 800 bronziers in Paris. He worked as a fondeur and ciseleur, as well as a doreur and thus was able to exercise considerable artistic control over his output. In particular, he worked extensively for Dominique Daguerre, for whom he supplied work valued at the staggering sum of 920,000 livres between 1778 and 1792. Latterly he also worked for Martin-Eloi Lignereux, one of the most important marchands-merciers of the early 19th century (C. Baulez, 'Le Luminaire de la Princesse Kinsky', L'Estampille L'Objet d'Art, May 1991, p. 86 and 92).