A set of four bronze and gilt-bronze wall lights by Claude Galle or Pierre-Philippe Thomire Empire, circa 1810

each in the form of a winged putto holding aloft a basket in the form of a flowerhead with a rosette on the underside issuing four scrolled candlearms, the underside of the drip-pans cast with berried laurel and centred by a raised gadrooned candle-nozzle in the form of a torch, the backplate termintaing in boldly scrolled acanthus and a palmette; formerly fitted for electricity

In overall good condition. Attractive model. The backplate is drilled and they were formerly fitted with wiring internally. They have traces of verde gris in places and would benefit from a light clean according to taste. One candle-nozzle has been reattached with glue as the thread of the screw is broken and will need restoration. Good number.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
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.

This set of four wall lights in a combination of bronze and gilt-bronze are after the celebrated model by either Claude Galle or Pierre-Philippe Thomire due to their similarity to other examples supplied by them to the various Royal Residences (see post). The model of a smiling putto terminating in an acanthus leaf and palmette issuing a firebrand and five candlearms is to be found in several imperial residences. It seems to have been commissioned by the Garde-Meuble from different bronziers.

The  two pairs of wall lights which were delivered by Claude Galle on 23rd December 1809 for le petit salon du the Petit Trianon at a cost of 680 francs, illustrated by Dupuy-Baylet, op. cit., p. 73. The aforementioned pair were solely in gilt-bronze with variations in the casting of the candlearms which are in the form of hunting horns and cast with lotus leaves and the raised central nozzle is cast with anthemions.The wall lights were placed in the room for which they had been conceived and they remained there until they were moved to the Garde-Meuble in 1876. They were described in the inventory of the Mobilier national under the same number, `une paire de bras à enfant portant 6 lumières tout ciselé doréen or mat'. The Musée des Arts décoratifs own a watercolour drawing (inv. CD 3767, published by Ottomeyer and Pröschel, 1986, Vol. II, p. 356 which corresponds to Galle's model. The other pair  of wall lights `4 bras à figure, 6 lumières, modèle riche, doré or mat'  were to furnish the château de Rambouillet made by Ravrio for le salon de l'Impératrice according to the records of 19th July 1809. They originally were to cost 1000 francs subsequently reduced to 900 francs and  were placed in the room for which they had been acquired. They left Rambouillet for the Garde-Meuble in 1832 and then sent to the Petit Trianon. The inventories of 1833 and 1839 mention their presence in the dining room in the grands appartements of the duc and duchesse d' Orléans.

Furthermore, Thomire-Duterme et Cie delivered in 1809 for the château de Fontainebleau, a pair with five lights enriched with leaves and ornamental scrolls intended for the bedroom of the Emperor and three pairs for le grand salon of le petit appartement of the Empress (four pairs in all), which are identical to the offered set in terms of the model although they are entirely in gilt-bronze, see Samoyault, op. cit., p. 140, no. 112. The difference between these pairs and those delivered by Claude Galle depended on the form of the bouquet and the number of lights.The following year these same makers furnished the bedroom of two princely appartments, with two pairs of six light wall lights identical to those supplied by Claude Galle, illustrated by Samoyault, op. cit., p. 141, no. 113.

In 1809-1810, Claude Galle supplied two pairs of wall lights of a model very close to those illustrated by Dupuy-Baylet, op. cit., p. 73, but with seven lights for le salon de l'Empereur at the Grand Trianon. Finally in 1813, Ravrio et Cie supplied to the Garde-Meuble, a pair similar to the preceding but smaller in height, for le cabinet of the Emperor at the Grand Trianon. In the Louvre there is a pair of wall lights identical to those in the Petit Trianon-see Dion-Tenenbaum, op. cit., , p. 272, no. 135 (INv. OA 11908).

Two five light pairs attributed to Thomire almost identical in terms of the model upon which these wall lights are almost certainly based, however, solely in gilt-bronze and stated to almost certainly have been provided for the Palace d'Arenberg, Belgium thence by descent  to Princess Lydia d’Arenberg di Savoia Genova, were sold Christie's, New York, 2nd November 2000, lots 128  and 129.