CIRCA 1810

These appliques are reminiscent to a design attributed to Antoine André Ravrio (see D. Alcouffe et. al., Gilt bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, p. 272 - H. Ottomeyer - P. Pröschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, München, 1986, p. 356.). Wall-lights derived from his models were commissioned by the garde-meuble from several other bronziers, such as Pierre-Philippe Thomire and Claude Galle. In 1809 Thomire delivered a related pair of wall-lights, also modelled with a winged putto, for the chambre à coucher of the Empress at Fontainebleau (illustrated J.-P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, 1989, p.139, no.111). Interestingly, the offered wall-lights bear a close structural resemblance to an earlier design for appliques by Jean-Louis Prieur similarly designed with a central putto flanked by two branches. As such, the present pair of wall-lights could be understood as the Empire re-interpretation of Prieur's popular model. A closely related pair of wall-lights with an identically modelled winged putto was sold anonymously at Christie's, London, 7 December, 2006, lot 18.