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Lot Essay
This jewel-like pair of wall-lights modelled ‘à la chinoise’ can be confidently attributed to the celebrated bronzier François Rémond (1747-1812) based on contemporary documentation.
On 22 November 1785, six pairs wall-lights of this particular model, were delivered to Bonnefoy-Duplan, the concierge was in charge of Marie-Antoinette’s garde meuble. They were described as: ‘bras à plateau à deux bobèches riches et découpures ajustées de chaines, poires et oeufs’, made by François Rémond and supplied through the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre for the Queen’s hameau. It is fascinating to note that the pierced frieze of these wonderful appliques is almost identical to the mounts cast and chased by Rémond for a lacquer box, part of the private collection of Marie-Antoinette, now in the Musée du Louvre (MR380-76).
One year later, another pair was ordered by Madame de Ville d’Avray for her bedroom at the hôtel du Garde-Meuble, place Louis XV (actual place de la Concorde), as the wife of the intendant du Garde-Meuble. The description again matches the present pair: ‘une paire de petits bras à la chinoise représentant une tige portant un petit plateau ayant deux bobèche ornées de petites guirlandes et poires en cuivre doré d’or moulu’ (A.N., O. 1-3425). Pierre Verlet noted, that these too could have been supplied by Rémond through Daguerre (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIII Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 90, no. 97).
On 22 November 1785, six pairs wall-lights of this particular model, were delivered to Bonnefoy-Duplan, the concierge was in charge of Marie-Antoinette’s garde meuble. They were described as: ‘bras à plateau à deux bobèches riches et découpures ajustées de chaines, poires et oeufs’, made by François Rémond and supplied through the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre for the Queen’s hameau. It is fascinating to note that the pierced frieze of these wonderful appliques is almost identical to the mounts cast and chased by Rémond for a lacquer box, part of the private collection of Marie-Antoinette, now in the Musée du Louvre (MR380-76).
One year later, another pair was ordered by Madame de Ville d’Avray for her bedroom at the hôtel du Garde-Meuble, place Louis XV (actual place de la Concorde), as the wife of the intendant du Garde-Meuble. The description again matches the present pair: ‘une paire de petits bras à la chinoise représentant une tige portant un petit plateau ayant deux bobèche ornées de petites guirlandes et poires en cuivre doré d’or moulu’ (A.N., O. 1-3425). Pierre Verlet noted, that these too could have been supplied by Rémond through Daguerre (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIII Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 90, no. 97).