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Lot Essay
A virtually identical pair - with variations only to the bases - is in the château de Valencay, France (ill. T. Droste, 'Châteaux of the Loire', London/New York, 1997, p.131) and illustrated here.
Valencay, once famously praised by George Sand as 'one of the most beautiful on earth' was the residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Périgord families, Napoleon's foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand having acquired the manor at the Emperor's behest in 1803 as a place to receive foreign dignitaries. Closely related examples include a pair of wall-lights executed by Claude Galle circa 1809, now in the Residenz, Munich (ill. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 357, fig. 5.10.7) while a further related pair executed by Thomire circa 1810, is illustrated Ibid., p. 328, fig.5.2.2.
A related pair was sold Christie's House Sale, Schloss Anholt, Germany, 20- 21 November 2001, lot 564 while a virtually identical pair was sold - Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 5 October 2004, lot 18 (EUR11,400 with premium).
Valencay, once famously praised by George Sand as 'one of the most beautiful on earth' was the residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Périgord families, Napoleon's foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand having acquired the manor at the Emperor's behest in 1803 as a place to receive foreign dignitaries. Closely related examples include a pair of wall-lights executed by Claude Galle circa 1809, now in the Residenz, Munich (ill. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 357, fig. 5.10.7) while a further related pair executed by Thomire circa 1810, is illustrated Ibid., p. 328, fig.5.2.2.
A related pair was sold Christie's House Sale, Schloss Anholt, Germany, 20- 21 November 2001, lot 564 while a virtually identical pair was sold - Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 5 October 2004, lot 18 (EUR11,400 with premium).