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A very fine pair of Louis XV style gilt bronze three-light wall-lights, each of a scrolling asymmetrical outline cast with rocaille, flowers and acanthus leaves, with a pierced backplate supporting two scrolling branches and surmounted by another upright branch, each branch terminating in a foliate drip-pan and foliate cast nozzle
Paris, date circa 1860-90
Height 83 cm, width 40 cm. each.
The design and overall decoration of these handsome wall-lights compares closely to a design for a three-light wall-light by Nicolas Pineau (1684-1754) of circa 1740 (in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris) as well as an unattributed two-light wall-light of circa 1745 (both illustrated in Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, “Vergoldete Bronzen”, 1986, p. 140, pls. 2.11.8 and 2.11.9). Pineau, the son of a court sculptor to the king, became a leader in the development of the light and lavishly ornamented early Louis XV style and is credited as being the initiator of asymmetric ornamentation, which became a hallmark of Rococo design. In 1716 he accompanied the architect Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste le Blond to Russia to work for Peter the Great and was involved in executing the interior of Peterhof Palace, the decoration of the Saint Peter and Paul fortress in Saint Petersburg and the design for the mourning decoration to mark the funeral of Peter the Great, 1725. On his return to Paris he predominantly created sculptural works of a decorative nature. Pineau’s importance lay in his ornament drawings since very little remains of his actual decorations. It was in part due to such designs as well as existing eighteenth century models that prompted the nineteenth century bronziers to make copies of the originals. In addition to Pineau’s designs, the present wall-lights must also be compared to those by the great Rococo sculptor and fondeur-ciseleur Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755), of which there is a very similar pair of three-light wall-lights attributed to him in the J. P. Getty Museum, California.
Examples of later castings, such as these, can be found in a number of important world collections including four pairs of similar three-light wall-lights at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire and two pairs in the J. P. Getty Museum, California, each now believed to date from the nineteenth or even early twentieth century (illustrated and described in Geoffrey de Bellaigue, “The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor”, 1974, pp. 786-787). The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed a resurgent interest for copies of eighteenth century bronzes as well as other furnishings. In many cases the quality of the casting and chasing was superb, especially in the hands of such nineteenth century bronziers as Alfred Beurdeley, Dasson et Cie and Denière à Paris. Far from considering such copies inferior, the critics and public alike greatly admired such bronziers not only for their fidelity to the original designs but also for their mastery of new techniques. Moreover wealthy nineteenth century collectors such as Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, whose legacy formed a large part of the Waddesdon Collection, Buckinghamshire, and whose tastes were rooted in the previous century, welcomed such copies especially when original pieces in good condition were in short supply.
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