Offered by Brozzetti Antichità
Pair of Piedmontese Italian candle wall sconce in carved and gilded wood with mirror.
Turin (Italy), Louis XV period, mid-18th century
Measures: cm H 53 x W 33
The precious pair of sconce, made around the middle of the eighteenth century in Piedmont, north Italy, has a gilded wooden frame, carved with foliate motifs with insertions of portions of ground mirror inspired to Venice. The chamfers are specular with a leaf fan and ground mirrors. On the central body is applied a mercury, coeval and original that shows the correct blackening of the surface due to the alteration and oxidation of the mercury.
This type of small wall mirror sconces, called in italian “ventole”, served as an appliques in support of candles to illuminate the corridors or living rooms of prestigious residences. The reflecting surface of the mirror allowed a pleasant and functional diffusion of the light of the lamps. In the lower part of the frame is in fact visible the metal insert on which the holder was applied.
Some similar workmanship and model sconces there are in the Royal Palace of Turin and in many historical residences in Piedmont.
In a good state of conservation, there are small fractures and cracks on two glass inserts and on the wooden frame.
Essential Bibliography: Roberto Antonetto, Il mobile piemontese nel settecento, vol. II, Umberto Allemandi Edithor Publisher, Turin, Italy 2010
