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Lot Essay
These superb wall-lights, an elegant expression of the fashionable goût étrusque of the 1780s, were reputedly formerly in the Château de Bellevue, built for Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) in 1750 and subsequently occupied by Louis XV daughter's Madame Marie Adélaïde, Madame Victoire and Madame Sophie. They then passed into the collection of the Princes de Beauvau-Craon at the château d'Haroué until sold by Prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon (1921-1982).
When these wall-lights last appeared on the market at Sotheby’s in 1976, they were previously attributed to Pierre Gouthière (1732–1813). However, an attribution to François Rémond is more probable, on the basis that two pairs of this model were delivered by Rémond in 1784 to the Comte d'Artois for the Palais du Temple, now in the Petit Trianon. They were invoiced originally for the large sum of 1800 livres, which was later adjusted to 1500 livres, and described as '...deux paires de bras trois branches arabesque sur un vase fond lapis enrichi de frise, tête de satire et de femme...'. (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français, Paris, 1987, p. 45, fig. 38).
Further pairs of the model include two in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, one with three lights and one also with five lights (illustrated in D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tennenbaum and G. Mabille, Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, pp. 164-5), and a pair at Pavlovsk Palace, St. Petersburg (illustrated in E. Ducamp ed., Pavlovsk The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 195, fig. 58).
The model was adapted and modified later by Thomire when he delivered in 1787 for the Salon des Jeux du Roi at the Château de Saint-Cloud a set of six wall-lights with the variant feature of replacing the satyr and female masks with three identical female masks with ostrich feather headdresses (see P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, pp. 1430-2, cat. 301).
THE CHÂTEAU D'HAROUÉ
The château d'Haroué, located twenty miles south of Nancy, was constructed between 1720-32 by Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) for Marc de Beauvau (1676-1754), Prince de Craon, Viceroy of Tuscany and Constable of Lorraine. In a requirement atypical of his time, Boffrand had to incorporate into his designs the four towers and moat of an older medieval château. The resulting château is a unique example of 18th century French art and architecture fashioned at the golden age of Lorraine during her independence from France. The decoration of the interior was entrusted to mainly Lorraine artists, such as Jean Pillement (1698-1771) who designed a Chinese salon for the château. The château remains in the possession of the Beauvau-Craon family and was classified as a Monument Historique in 1983.
These superb wall-lights, an elegant expression of the fashionable goût étrusque of the 1780s, were reputedly formerly in the Château de Bellevue, built for Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) in 1750 and subsequently occupied by Louis XV daughter's Madame Marie Adélaïde, Madame Victoire and Madame Sophie. They then passed into the collection of the Princes de Beauvau-Craon at the château d'Haroué until sold by Prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon (1921-1982).
When these wall-lights last appeared on the market at Sotheby’s in 1976, they were previously attributed to Pierre Gouthière (1732–1813). However, an attribution to François Rémond is more probable, on the basis that two pairs of this model were delivered by Rémond in 1784 to the Comte d'Artois for the Palais du Temple, now in the Petit Trianon. They were invoiced originally for the large sum of 1800 livres, which was later adjusted to 1500 livres, and described as '...deux paires de bras trois branches arabesque sur un vase fond lapis enrichi de frise, tête de satire et de femme...'. (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français, Paris, 1987, p. 45, fig. 38).
Further pairs of the model include two in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, one with three lights and one also with five lights (illustrated in D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tennenbaum and G. Mabille, Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, pp. 164-5), and a pair at Pavlovsk Palace, St. Petersburg (illustrated in E. Ducamp ed., Pavlovsk The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 195, fig. 58).
The model was adapted and modified later by Thomire when he delivered in 1787 for the Salon des Jeux du Roi at the Château de Saint-Cloud a set of six wall-lights with the variant feature of replacing the satyr and female masks with three identical female masks with ostrich feather headdresses (see P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, pp. 1430-2, cat. 301).
THE CHÂTEAU D'HAROUÉ
The château d'Haroué, located twenty miles south of Nancy, was constructed between 1720-32 by Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) for Marc de Beauvau (1676-1754), Prince de Craon, Viceroy of Tuscany and Constable of Lorraine. In a requirement atypical of his time, Boffrand had to incorporate into his designs the four towers and moat of an older medieval château. The resulting château is a unique example of 18th century French art and architecture fashioned at the golden age of Lorraine during her independence from France. The decoration of the interior was entrusted to mainly Lorraine artists, such as Jean Pillement (1698-1771) who designed a Chinese salon for the château. The château remains in the possession of the Beauvau-Craon family and was classified as a Monument Historique in 1983.