MONUMENTAL PAIR OF LOUIS XVI GILT BRONZE WALL APPLIQUES ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-CHARLES DELAFOSSE
MONUMENTAL PAIR OF LOUIS XVI GILT BRONZE WALL APPLIQUES ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-CHARLES DELAFOSSE France, Circa 1770 Very rare pair of large and beautifulgilt bronze wall appliques with three gilt bronze candle arms very finely chiseled and gilded. Each applique has a central urn topped by a bouquet of flowers. Supported on a central body richly ornamented with heavy volutes and guilloche motifs, terminating in a finial as a husk of leaves and berries The three arms decorated with bold acanthus foliage. In reverse movement, two garlands of laurel bows drape from a central point with a bow behind the central arm come to rest on the bow of each arm and end in pendants. The very ample and harmonious drops decorated with delicate leaves Perfect balance of rhythm and volumes, great architectural legibility, decorative themes of a great refinement, perfection of the execution, these appliques are rare objects of art of museum quality representing the classicism of its time: the highest accomplishment of French taste. The skill and precision of execution of the Master Chaser seem unrivaled on such bronze art objects The mercury gilding is original Our pair of appliques are similar to those preserved in the Louvre Museum and reproduced in the reference book by Hans Ottomeyer, Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munich, 1986, Tome 1, Page 186, fig 3.9.2. The rarity & importance of these magnificently grand sized & opulent pair cannot be overstated, they are without question the finest example you will see. Each with three generously decorated branches, with a central bow adorned, the gilt bronze husks give a delightfully draped flow & the whole exhibit the fullest grandeur, adding to the true majesty of these incredible works of art. From an Important Estate, these grand Museum Quality masterpieces are in excellent condition for their age & incredibly maintain their original gilding. Truly stunning, they are extremely heavy & the absolute best you could find. Height 22.5in / Width 16in/Depth 11in £38,000
Jean Charles Delafosse (French, Paris 1734–1791 Paris) Designer, decorator and print maker, Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-91). Delafosse engaged in diverse artistic productions producing urban planning proposals, architectural plans, furniture designs as well as drawings of ruin capriccios and allegorical and ornamental prints. His designs were widely circulated across France, England, and Germany and had a profound impact in the development of the goût grec (Greek style), an early form of neoclassicism that emerged around 1760s. Delafosse frequently used his fantastical ornament, furniture and landscape compositions as a means to explore and expand upon his artistic vocabulary. Vases, in particular, were leitmotifs for the Greek style and are nearly ubiquitous throughout Delafosse’s designs for, appliques, overdoor ornaments, fountains, and consoles. The urns on the present pair of appliques incorporate the iconography of Abundance In his publication, the Nouvelle Iconologie Historique (1768) was an ambitious publication that merged the ornamental pattern books used by marchand-merciers and artisans with the iconological tradition. In these designs, vases were liberated from their functional duties as appropriated as a template for ornamental inventions. Throughout the eighteenth-century, artists and designers such as François Boucher, Edmé Bouchardon, Jacques Saly, and Ennemond-Alexandre Petitot produced series of etchings and engravings on vase designs while painters and architects such as Joseph-Marie Vien, FrançoisJoseph Bélanger, and Jean-Laurent Legeay incorporated vases into their diverse artistic output. While Delafosse too published a book of vases under Cahiers des vases et tombeaux and although vase designs were included in his Cahiers de décorations, sculptures, orfévreries et ornenements as well as in his Nouvelle Iconologie Historique, his engraved designs are significantly more architectonic and austere. Still, as there are several drawings by Delafosse executed with the same media that expand upon ornamental variations for the ewer, it may very well be that he intended to engrave these designs for a book of vases. Conversely, this drawing can also be interpreted as an exploration of his visual vocabulary by pushing the limits of classical design paradigms. The French architect and académician Jacques François Blondel considered Delafosse’s classically inspired style just as extravagant as Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier’s luxuriant rococo language writing, “if the productions of Meissonnier and Delafosse fall unfortunately into your hands, and you glance through them, don’t give them your vote: the one is an offensive frivolity, the other a stupefying weight.” Perhaps Blondel recognized that the Delafosse’s Greek style was in fact rooted in the legacy of the sensual rococo style, with the turning point embodied in his designs indluding these magnificent wall appliques.
Pen and black ink with brush and gray wash and red chalk, over graphite underdrawing. by Jean Charles Delafosse from the Met Museum Collection
RARE18th CENTURY ITALIAN WALNUT STOOLS A very fine pair of early 18th century walnut stools of unusual large scale. From an Important Titled Estate. Italy, circa 1730 Approximate Measurements Width: 61cm Depth: 53cm Height: 53 cm
IMPORTANT LOUIS XIV BUFFET CABINET A magnificent and very rare early 18th century two door marquetry cabinet, retaining the original mottled marble top and veneered throughout in fine and highly figured woods of walnut, burr elm and kingwood, the two doors opening to a oak lined interior revealing the oak carcass, the whole raised on bracket feet. ​ Height 89.00cm Width 118.00cm Depth 73.00cm
PAIR OF NEO CLASSICAL OFF WHITE PAINTED MARQUISE France, circa 1880 A fine pair of large scale white painted bergere armchairs, with flat backs, and swept arms, baluster columns with twisted fluting below the hand rests. Each raised on tapering topie legs with guilloche motifs to the frame. Height 90cm Width 77cm ​Depth 60cm Seat Height 40cm
PAIR OF LOUIS XV ORMOLU APPLIQUES France, c. 1750 A very fine quality pair of mid 18th century gilt bronze wall appliquÊs conceived circa 1750, these wall lights are typical of the finest work produced during the high rococo period under the reign of Louis XV. The design is exceptionally accomplished with sinuous rococo forms moving effortlessly without interruption invite the eye to note every detail. The gilt bronze work is exceptionally good with finely chased details to the arms, drip pans and nozzles, the surface with burnished gilt work contrasted with matt edges to give contrast to the opulent gold plated surface. Cast with the lost wax process, the backs retain some of the sand from the original casting. Height17.50inch (44.45 cm) Width 12 inches ​Depth 6 1/2inches
PAIR OF LOUIS XVI MARQUISE STAMPED P LAROQUE Retaining their original Aubuson needlework upholstery France, circa 1780