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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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A superb pair of Russian Empire gilt bronze five-light wall-lights, each backplate with a crested and stylized lotus finial above a swan with wings out splayed placed upon a circular tapering shaft issuing five curved trumpet-shaped foliate wrapped candle branches terminating in splayed nozzles, the pinecone backplate terminal below a stylized lotus crest and ring of stiff leaves Russia, date circa 1805-10 Height 66 cm, width 46 cm, depth 23 cm. each. With their overt references to Antiquity and the distinctive swans in combination with the crisp linear forms and the soft manner of chasing, these wall-lights typify the Russian variant of the French Empire style. Russian bronziers considered the work of the Parisian bronziers to be the epitome of fine taste, of which Claude Galle (1759-1815) seems to have been one of the most inspirational artists. His repertoire often included swans that not only signified grace and grandeur but were closely associated with the Empress Josephine. Swans also featured regularly in the late eighteenth century decorative arts for instance as mounts for rock crystal vases, which were copied by the Russian Imperial Glass Factories during the early years of the nineteenth century. Most of the sophisticated French-inspired Russian Empire bronzes of this period were produced in collaboration by Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814) and Friedrich Bergenfeldt (1760-1814) who were in turn predominantly influenced by Galle. They not only travelled to workshops in Paris of the great bronziers but also worked very closely with Emperor Paul at Mikailovsky and Pavlovsk, especially after a fire destroyed much of the latter in 1803 and many of the rooms had to be refurbished. http://www.richardreddingantiques.com/collection/gilt-bronze/a-superb-pair-of-russian-empire-gilt-bronze-five-light-wall-lights |
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