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A superb pair of Louis XVI gilt and patinated bronze chenets attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, each with a patinated recumbent lion set upon gilded tassel-hung swagged drapery cast with a foliate and floral bouquet on a rectangular plinth with stylised foliate panels surmounted at the far end by a foliate-wrapped pinecone finial, on fluted toupie feet
Paris, date circa 1785
Height 30 cm, length 48 cm, depth 12 cm. each.
Literature: Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, “Vergoldete Bronzen”, 1986, p. 298, pl. 4.18.6, illustrating a pen and ink and wash drawing from the workshop of Pierre-Philippe Thomire of circa 1785 in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, showing two alternative designs for a number of decorative objects for a chimneypiece including a design for a very similar chenet as well as its counterpart surmounted by a sphinx.
The design for these chenets, which is probably derived from the Antique, appears in a design from Thomire’s workshop of circa 1785. The main difference between the present pair and that envisaged by Thomire is the substitution here of foliage and flowers instead of an Apollo mask on the swagged-drapery as well as the additional extension of the plinth and pinecone finial. A comparable pair of chenets with very similar recumbent lions but without the drapery was executed by Hauré in 1786 for the Salon de la Paix at Versailles, (illustrated in Pierre Verlet, “Les Bronzes Dores Français du XVIIIe siècle”, 1987, p. 369, pl. 380). The model for the recumbent lion gained enduring popularity as evident by its recurrence on a chenet supplied by Claude Galle for Fontainebleau in 1805, (illustrated in Jean-Pierre Samoyault, “Pendules et Bronzes d’ameublement entres sous le Premier Empire”, 1989, p. 256, pl. 256).
The pre-eminent fondeur-ciseleur Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) established himself as a leading light during Louis XVI’s reign. His output included a number of decorative objects to adorn chimneypieces such as gilt bronze chenets with flaming urns and sphinxes for the Louvre in 1786 as well as a gilt bronze fire grate and pair of columns made in 1788 for an English gentleman, possibly Lord Uxbridge, which are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Born in Paris, Thomire began his training under the sculptors Jean-Antoine Houdon and Augustin Pajou at the Académie St. Luc, Paris and then followed his father’s profession as a fondeur-ciseleur. His career was advanced when he studied under the great fondeur-doreur, Pierre Gouthière, from whom he acquired the most refined skills in chasing and gilding, in particular matt gilding ‘dorure au matt’, to produce a subtle grainy satin-like finish. Appointed a maître-fondeur in 1772, he set up his own business in 1776 following a collaboration with Jean-Louis Prieur in the decoration of Louis XVI’s coronation coach. Having assisted in the making of the mounts for the Sèvres Grands Vases (Musée du Louvre, Paris and Pitti Palace Florence), in 1783 he succeeded Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis as chief supplier of mounts for Sèvres, which was an important post and assured Thomire’s future. By the late eighteenth century Thomire had achieved considerable renown, having enjoyed the patronage of Louis XVI. Prudently he turned to the manufacture of arms and ammunition during the Revolution and then gained even greater renown as one of the main suppliers to Napoleon and the Imperial family, foreign royalty and aristocracy and subsequently to the restored Bourbon monarchy.
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