.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Reflecting the importance of the hunt in the culture and ritual of the French court, this set of four wall-lights are identical to a pair housed in the château de Versailles, which were previously listed in the château de Fontainebleau from 1806. Although the precise provenance is unknown, this set was likely part of the same commission as the Versailles pair and was possibly ordered for one of the French royal residences frequently used for the pursuit of hunting.
The pair in the château de Versailles (inv. T525c) entered Fontainebleau in 1806, and then the Petit Trianon in 1868 where they were placed in Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir (illustrated in situ in G. Desjardins, Le Petit Trianon, Versailles, 1885, pl. XXI).Wall-lights with stag’s heads were already in existence during Louis the XV’s reign, and can be found on a rocaille model by Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain (see Ottomeyer, H. et Pröschel, P., Vergoldete Bronzen, I, Munich, 1987, p. 109, fig. 2.2.5). Later in Louis XV’s reign, a similar naturalistically-chased stag was cast on a pair of chenets by Quentin-Claude Pitoin, delivered in 1772 for Madame du Barry’s salon de Diane at Fontainebleau.
Another pair of this model is recorded, previously with Galerie Gismondi, Paris (illustrated in the 1986 catalogue); a closely related pair, undoubtedly from the same workshop and possibly en suite with the present, although with the stag’s head to the bottom of the plate, was part of the collection of George Geffroy, sold at Palais Galliera, Paris, 2 December 1971, lot 74. A pair, with identical scrolling twisted branches and sunflowers, and a tied ribbon instead of the stag's head, was part of the collection of Prince Anatoli Niklaevich Demidoff, San Donato; sold in his sale, Florence, 1880, lot 1091 (illustrated).
The pair in the château de Versailles (inv. T525c) entered Fontainebleau in 1806, and then the Petit Trianon in 1868 where they were placed in Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir (illustrated in situ in G. Desjardins, Le Petit Trianon, Versailles, 1885, pl. XXI).Wall-lights with stag’s heads were already in existence during Louis the XV’s reign, and can be found on a rocaille model by Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain (see Ottomeyer, H. et Pröschel, P., Vergoldete Bronzen, I, Munich, 1987, p. 109, fig. 2.2.5). Later in Louis XV’s reign, a similar naturalistically-chased stag was cast on a pair of chenets by Quentin-Claude Pitoin, delivered in 1772 for Madame du Barry’s salon de Diane at Fontainebleau.
Another pair of this model is recorded, previously with Galerie Gismondi, Paris (illustrated in the 1986 catalogue); a closely related pair, undoubtedly from the same workshop and possibly en suite with the present, although with the stag’s head to the bottom of the plate, was part of the collection of George Geffroy, sold at Palais Galliera, Paris, 2 December 1971, lot 74. A pair, with identical scrolling twisted branches and sunflowers, and a tied ribbon instead of the stag's head, was part of the collection of Prince Anatoli Niklaevich Demidoff, San Donato; sold in his sale, Florence, 1880, lot 1091 (illustrated).