BY HENRY DASSON, PARIS, DATED 1878

These wall-lights are based on a model made by Pierre Gouthière after wax models by François-Joseph Bélanger for the duchesse de Mazarin in 1781. The sale of her collection on 10-15 December 1781 included one such pair described as being 'par Goutthier'. The model was revived during the second have of the 19th century as exemplified by these superb replicas by Henry Dasson dated 1878. Another pair of 19th century replicas, unsigned and as such of lesser importance to the present lot, sold Le Gout Steinitz, I; Christie’s, New York, 19 October 2007, lot 54 ($46,600). Dasson is prized especially for the refinement of his ormolu and was awarded the médaille d'or at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878 where he was applauded ‘M. Dasson, dont l'exposition, par sa valeur propre aussi bien que par sa tenue et son grand air, est l’une des meilleures de la Section française’ and ‘M. Dasson est donc un artiste du meilleur titre’ (L’Art Moderne a L’Exposition universelle de 1878, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1879 p. 352 & 356).