Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Rare series of four monumental wall lights in finely chiseled bronze with black and gold patinas.
Model called "aux enfants" representing chubby puttis whose torsos end in acanthus foliage.
Above their heads, two outstretched arms raise a fleuron from which escape a central brand decorated with scales and four bouquets of lights highlighted with acanthus scrolls and palmette volutes.
The underside of the cups finely chiseled with florets and lotus flowers; the bobeches with palmette friezes.
Mercury gilding with double original matte and shiny patinas.
Very good condition, pierced for electrification.
Empire period work attributable to André-Antoine Ravrio in Paris around 1810-1814.
Dimensions:
Height: 49 cm; Width: 30 cm; Depth: 20 cm
Bibliography:
Marie-France Dupuy-Baylet, L'Heure le Feu la Lumière, Les Bronzes du Mobilier national, 1800-1870, Dijon, 2010, pp. 72 and 73.
Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, Les Bronzes d'ameublement du Louvre, Dijon, 2004, p. 272, no. 135.
Jean Pierre Samoyault, Pendulums and furnishing bronzes entered under the First Empire, Musée National du Chateau de Fontainebleau
Hans Ottomeyer & Proschel, Vergoldete bronzen, volume I page 356
Similar models in museums:
Musée du Louvre
Musée National du Chateau de Fontainebleau
Musée du Chateau de Versailles (Trianon)
A pair of sconces signed Chiboust, with a variation in the bouquet, went up for public sale, Hubert de Givenchy collection Christies Paris, September 14, 2021, Lot 1 (35,000 euros).
André Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814) was born in Paris in 1759.
He was a famous bronze art manufacturer who became a master founder in 1777 in Paris.
He set up his own business in 1790 and ran a major establishment under the Empire. Ravrio supplied bronze furnishings for the imperial palaces and for a prestigious clientele including Prince Murat, Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais.
Gifted with a talent for writing, he composed many poems and was the author of several vaudevilles. He was a member of many literary and charitable societies. He created a prize of 3,000 francs to enable the discovery of a preventive measure against the dangers of using mercury in the practice of the profession of gilder on metals.
Antoine Ravrio died in Paris in 1814. He is buried with his adopted son in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
Our opinion:
This model of arm lights depicting a winged child finished in a bundle of acanthus and lifting the bouquet of lights by its outstretched arms was very successful and was the subject of numerous orders by the imperial furniture repository.
Many bronziers such as André Ravrio, Claude Galle or Pierre Philippe Thomire will deliver this type of arm between 1808 and 1813 with variations at the level of the bouquets.
The first delivery is made by Thomire-Duterme et Cie, a pair for the emperor's bedroom at the palace of Fontainebleau and three pairs for the grand salon of the empress on the ground floor.
Memorandum of November 18, 1809 "bedroom ... a pair of arms representing a child ending with leaves with ornaments which holds in its hands above the head, a fleuron from which emerge five branches with leaves and scrolls of ornaments, all that composes the said arms in chased bronze and gilded to the mat as well as the children".
The description is identical for the three pairs delivered for the living room. (national archives code O2 515)
The following year in 1809 the furniture repository ordered from Claude Galle a pair for the small living room of the empress at Trianon, and four pairs of smaller dimensions from André Antoine Ravrio.
The four sconces that we present are smaller examples that correspond perfectly to the sconces delivered by Ravrio whether by the size or by the windings of the arms which are no longer with hunting horns but with acanthus scrolls.
The descriptions of the furniture store and the drawing by Ravrio kept at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Album Maciet 93, drawing CD 3767) and published on page 356 of the book by Hans Ottomeyer & Proschel "Vergoldete Bronzen" allow us to attribute our four sconces to it.
Due to the imperial couple's choice to place this model in the most important and intimate rooms of their palaces, the success will be so great that many other imperial orders will be made until 1813.
In addition to these official orders, there are also major private orders from the imperial elite.
