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Lot Essay
The design for this pair of wall-lights as seen in the watercolor sketch reproduced here can be attributed to Jean-Louis Prieur, the influential ornemaniste whose published engravings played a leading role in the development of the French Neo-Classical style. Prieur became maître sculpteur in 1765 and maître-fondeur en terre et sable in 1769.
This specific model of wall-light was a particular favorite among the members of the French Royal Family. A pair decorated Madame Adelaïde's grand cabinet at Bellevue and another pair, supplied to the comte de Provence at the Palais du Luxembourg was seized during the Revolution. A further pair, possibly the same, was sent to the Palais de Fontainebleau in 1806 and is discussed in J.-P. Samoyault, Musee National du Chateau de Fontainbleau, Catalogue des Collections de Mobilier. I. Pendules et Bronzes d'ameublement entres sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 130. Other examples of this distinguished model are in the Royal Palace, Stockholm (H. Ottomeyer/P. Proschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 241, fig. 4.5.5.) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (44.469-70).
This specific model of wall-light was a particular favorite among the members of the French Royal Family. A pair decorated Madame Adelaïde's grand cabinet at Bellevue and another pair, supplied to the comte de Provence at the Palais du Luxembourg was seized during the Revolution. A further pair, possibly the same, was sent to the Palais de Fontainebleau in 1806 and is discussed in J.-P. Samoyault, Musee National du Chateau de Fontainbleau, Catalogue des Collections de Mobilier. I. Pendules et Bronzes d'ameublement entres sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 130. Other examples of this distinguished model are in the Royal Palace, Stockholm (H. Ottomeyer/P. Proschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 241, fig. 4.5.5.) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (44.469-70).