BY LEROLLE FRÈRES, PARIS, CIRCA 1862

This large and impressive centerpiece was almost certainly among the superbly-cast bronze works at the center of the fondeur's award-winning display at the London 1862 International Exhibition. With premises at 1 rue du Foin et Chaussée-des-Minimies, Lerolle Frères produced all types of bronzes in the Renaissance, Louis XIII and Louis XIV styles. Established in 1836 after inheriting the family business the firm designated themselves Fournisseurs de la Cour de Sardaigne, referring to a silver medal granted to their father for a cheminée and console supplied to the King of Sardinia. Lerolle exhibited ornamental clocks, garnitures, chandeliers and candelabras, predominantly gilt-bronze or silvered, at most of the international exhibitions held during the second half of the 19th century, London 1851, New York 1853, Paris 1855 where the firm obtained a médaille de 1re classe, London 1862 and Paris 1867 and 1878. The firm was fêted by critics for their luxury decorations by 'first-class artists, while modelling, molding, chiseling and finish rank among the bronze-masters of Paris' (The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition, 1878, p. 153). In 1862, Lerolle participated in the Exposition des Beaux Arts Appliqués à l'Industrie and the same year were manufacturing bronzes for the Maison S.A.I. le Prince Napoléon, and the l'Hôtel de la Commission Française.