Pair of Early Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Wall-Lights

a pair of three-branch lights of the same date and model, from the collection of Elizabeth Stafford and acquired from Bensimon in Paris, though damaged, sold Christie’s New York, 1 November 22nd, 2018, lot 1197 ($15,000)

18th century versions of this model include a pair sold from the Lehmann Collection in Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 4/5th June 1925, lot 92; another pair (probably the Lehmann pair re-appearing), was sold from the collection of Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, Sotheby’s, New York, 20th May 1992, lot 38; and two sets of four were sold from the collection of Wendell Cherry, 20th May 1994, lots 39 and 40. Four further wall-lights of this model, probably one of the sets from the Cherry sale, are discussed in Partridge, Recent Acquisitions 1996, London, no.44, p.107.

The two most famous exponents of the production of fine quality gilt-bronze pieces in the 19th century were the Beurdeley family and Henry Dasson, both the Beurdeleys and Dasson sometimes, but not always, signed their work. Three generations of the Beurdeley family produced exceptional gilt-bronze objects for most of the 19th century and into the early years of the 20th century. Henry Dasson (1825-1896) did the same from the middle of the century till his retirement in 1894. Both exhibited at the Paris  Expositions Universelles of 1876 and 1889, and specialised in fine quality gilt-bronze in 18th century style, often copying existing pieces in Museum and other public collections. Though obviously copying wall-lights from the 1770s, their quality and design would suggest that they are taken from a royal model by an accomplished ciseleur of the likes of Jean-Jacques Caffieri (1725-1792), Quentin-Claude Pitoin (1725-1777), Pierre-François Feuchère (1737-1823), Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813), or an early work by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), and probably made by either the aforementioned Beurdeleys or Dasson.