A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU FOUR-LIGHT WALL-APPLIQUES

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'. A wall-light of this model but lacking the ribbon-tied upper section, which is in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 243, fig. 4.5.12. A pair of Louis XVI wall-lights of the same design were sold anonymously in these Rooms, 12 April 1984, lot. 83.

Copies of this design were made by both Beurdeley and Dasson in the 19th Century. A pair executed by Henry Dasson is illustrated Ottomeyer, Pröschel, op. cit., p. 425, fig. 6.3.13.