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Louis XV Sculptures

LOUIS XV STYLE

The style of 18th-century French furniture was guided by the court. When Louis XV, who reigned from 1715–74, focused royal life on the smaller salons of Versailles rather than its grand chambers, it transformed the aesthetics away from the imposing and angular furniture that characterized the style of Louis XIV. A broader focus on comfort and more delicate forms define antique Louis XV furniture, with nature-inspired carvings, wood inlays, curved cabriole legs, asymmetrical shapes and rounded oval seat backs. The furnishings changed throughout the king’s life, as he ascended to the throne as a child and then grew to establish his own tastes.

Pieces like the bergère, an upholstered armchair with a wide cushion that fit the flowing dresses in fashion at the time, reflected this more informal court. Introduced at the start of Louis XV’s reign, bergère chairs in this style were deeper and broader than other chairs of the period.

Louis XV tapestries and carpets tended to be floral and colorful, and design elements were borrowed from Asia. Dutch-born cabinetmaker Bernard van Risenburgh brought lacquer techniques influenced by Japan and China into his luxuriously made furniture. Along with its fine details, the furniture of the era also featured new innovations including mechanical devices. Jean François Oeben, a royal cabinetmaker, created such intricate pieces as a mechanical table for Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress. It involved a sliding top and a writing surface that extended from its marquetry panels.

During the later years of Louis XV’s reign, there was a shift from the ostentatious rocaille style, part of the exuberantly decorative Rococo movement in Europe for which designers such as Nicolas Pineau and Juste-Aurèle Meissonier are known. The style under Louis XVI would return to boxier forms, but with a neoclassical touch inspired by the ancient world.

Find antique Louis XV bedroom furniture, seating, tables and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

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Item Ships From: USA
Style: Louis XV
Pair, Louis XV Style Signed Gilt-Bronze & Samson Porcelain Floral Figures C 1880
Located in Atlanta, GA
Samson, Edme Et Cie (Founded 1845), circa 1880. A very fine grouping of two porcelain displays: 1) Depicting Harlequin couple dancing after the original Meissen "Commedia Dell'art...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Louis XV Huge Verdigris Bronze Signed Nishan Toor Nude Cherub Sculpture / Putti
Located in Opa Locka, FL
Spectacular and Important XL Louis XV style Bronze Cherub/ Putti Sculpture Signed by Listed Artist Nishan Toor. Verdigris patina, beautifully detailed classic nude Cherub holding his...
Category

1950s American Vintage Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

French 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Cherubs & Rooster Mantel Clock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine French 19th century Louis XV style gilt bronze and white marble figural mantel clock. The finely chased ormolu body, with its original two-tone mercury gilt, centered with a circular enameled porcelain clock face with Roman and Arabic numeral dials and inscribed 'A. Thomas - Fabt de Bronze - 56, Rue de Turenne - Paris', surmounted with a pair of playful seated cherubs amidst clouds and wreaths, the case crowned with a figure of a Gallic Rooster (Coq Gaulois...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Ormolu, Bronze

Parisian Louis XV Head on Mount
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Parisian Louis XV Hercules Mounted Resin Head Fitted with wooden spindle Mount Sourced from Paris by Martyn Lawrence Bullard
Category

21st Century and Contemporary French Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Resin

Late 19th Century Russian Bronze Ormolu Sculpture of a Boy on a Marble Base
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions- H: 12 1/2in W: 12in D: 4in This late 19th Century Russian bronze ormolu sculpture of a boy is made of the highest quality! This antique sculpture features a lovely marb...
Category

Late 19th Century Russian Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze, Ormolu

Pair of Mid-Century French Patinated Bronze Busts on Marble Bases Signed Moreau
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate an office shelf with this elegant pair of antique busts. Crafted in France circa 1950, both subject stand on a circular marble base and depict a Royalty couple in traditiona...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

After Clodion Signed Bronze Sculpture Titled "Bacchae and Cupid"
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions- H: 17 3/4in W: 11 1/4in D: 8.5in This Bronze Signed After Claude Michael Clodion titled "Bacchae and Cupid" is an exceptional sculpture and was made with quality in mind....
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Ormolu & Marble Bust of Louise Brogniart After Houdon Signed Thiebaut Freres
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions- H: 6 1/2in W: 2 1/4in D: 2in This Antique French Ormolu Bronze And Marble bust of Louise Brogniart After Jean Antoine Houdon And Signed Thiebaut Fréres is an incredible example of 19th century french decor...
Category

Mid-19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze, Ormolu

Pair French 19th/20th Century Gilt-Bronze Sculptures of The Marly Horses Lamps
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Fine Pair of French 19th/20th Century Gilt-Bronze Sculptures of "The Marly Horses" (Now turned into lamps) After the original by Guillaume Coustou (French, 1677-1746). The large pair of equestrian bronze sculptures, finished in a gold patina, each depicting rearing horses with their groom, both raised on oval a black slate and Bardiglio marble bases and fitted with modern electrical twin-light brass fittings and cream colored shades. The base on an ebonized wooden platform. Circa: Paris, 1900-1920. Sculpture & Base Height: 31 1/4 inches (79.8 cm) Base Width: 21 3/4 inches (55.3 cm) Base Depth: 12 3/4 inches (32.4 cm) Height to top of (Adjustable) shade fitting: 48 1/4 inches (122.6 cm) Shade Height: 15 inches (38.1 cm) Shade Width: 26 inches (66.1 cm) Shade Depth: 20 inches (50.8 cm) The original Marly Horses are two 1743–1745 Carrara marble sculpted groups by Guillaume Coustou. They were commissioned by Louis XV of France for the trough at the entrance to the grounds of his château de Marly. Coustou's last works, they were intended to replace two other sculpted groups, Mercury on Pegasus and Pegasus, Renown of Horses, both by Antoine Coysevox, which had been removed to the Tuileries Gardens in 1719. Louis XV chose the modellos in 1743 and the full-size sculptures were completed in only two years, being installed at Marly in 1745. They proved highly successful in reproduction, particularly on a smaller scale, and prefigured Théodore Géricault and other Romantic artists' obsession with equestrian subjects. The Marly horses were later also used as the central motif of the monochrome 819-line RTF/ORTF test card which was used on TF1 from 1953 until 1983. The originals were moved to the place de la Concorde in Paris in 1794 and Louis-Denis Caillouette (1790–1868) restored them in 1840. In 1984 it was concluded that the annual military parades on 14 July were damaging the sculptures and they were replaced by marble copies produced by Michel Bourbon in the studio of a subsidiary of Bouygues. The latter also gained the right to an extra copy, which was placed in Bouygues's social building. The original sculptures were moved to a former courtyard in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre Museum, which was renamed the 'cour Marly' in their honour, whilst Bourbon's two main copies were moved to the originals' first site near the trough at Marly, with work overseen by the architect Serge Macel. Guillaume Coustou the Elder (29 November 1677, Lyon – 22 February 1746, Paris) was a French sculptor of the Baroque and Louis XIV style. He was a royal sculptor for Louis XIV and Louis XV and became Director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1735. He is best known for his monumental statues of horses made for the Chateau of Marly, whose replicas now stand in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Coustou was a member of a family of famous sculptors; his uncle, Antoine Coysevox, was a royal sculptor; his elder brother, Nicolas Coustou was a sculptor, and his son Guillaume Coustou the Younger also become a noted royal sculptor. Like his older brother, he won the (Prix de Rome) of the Royal Academy which entitled him to study for four years at the French Academy in Rome. However, he refused to accept the discipline of the academy, gave up his studies, set out to make his own career as an artist. He worked for a time in the atelier of the painter Pierre Legros, and eventually returned to Paris. Upon his return to Paris, he assisted his uncle Coysevox in making two monumental equestrian sculptures, Fame and Mercury, for the Château de Marly, the new residence of Louis XIV near the Palace of Versailles, where he went to escape the crowds and ceremony of the Palace. He later (1740–1745), made his own horses, The Horses of Marly, his most famous works, to replace them. The horses reinvent the theme of the colossal Roman marbles of the Horse Tamers in the Piazza Quirinale, Rome. They were commissioned by Louis XV in 1739 and installed in 1745 at the Abreuvoir ("Horse Trough") at Marly. The horses were considered masterpieces of the grace and expressiveness of the French Late Baroque or Rococo style. After the Revolution they were moved from Marly to the beginning of the Champs-Élysées on the Place de la Concorde. The originals were brought indoors for protection at the Louvre Museum in 1984. In 1704 Coustou was received into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. The work he made to mark his entrance was Hercules on the Pyre, now in the Louvre. It displays the special hallmark of the Baroque, a twisting and rising transverse pose, as well as highly skillful carving. He rose to become Director of the academy in 1733. Another of his major works from his later career, the statue of Maria Leszczynska, (1731)is on display at the Louvre. Coustou also created two colossal monuments, The Ocean and the Mediterranean among other sculptures for the park at Marly; the bronze Rhone, which formed part of the statue of Louis XIV at Lyons, and the sculptures at the entrance of the Hôtel des Invalides. Of these latter, the bas-relief representing Louis XIV mounted and accompanied by Justice and Prudence was destroyed during the Revolution, but was restored in 1815 by Pierre Cartellier from Coustou's model; the bronze figures of Mars and Minerva (1733–34), on either side of the doorway, were not interfered with. In 1714 for Marly he collaborated in two marble sculptures representing Apollo Chasing Daphne (both at the Louvre), in which Nicolas Coustou sculpted the Apollo and Guillaume the Daphne. About the same time he was commissioned to produce another running figure in marble, a Hippomenes designed to complement an Atalanta copied from the Antique by Pierre Lepautre...
Category

Early 1900s French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

French Louis XV Style 19th Century Gilt-Bronze Cherub & Maiden Mantel Clock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An Important and Palatial French Louis XV Style 19th century Gilt-Bronze Cherub and Maiden Mantel Clock "In Search of Love", the movement by "Samuel Marti et Cie." The large and impr...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze, Ormolu

A French 19th century Ormolu and Pietra Braschia marble sculpture of Lucretia
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An impressive French 19th century Ormolu and Pietra Braschia marble sculpture of Lucretia. The sculpture is raised by a rectangular Pietra Braschia base with an handsome Coeur de Rai...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Ormolu

19th Century Louis XVI Style Bronze Houdon Bust
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XVI style (19th Century) bronze bust of two lovers on bronze square shaped base (signed HOUDON).  
Category

19th Century Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Antique Architectural Fragment circa 1800 Gilded and Framed
Located in Houston, TX
This is a gold gilded antique fragment which has been mounted on new painted boarding surrounded with a new gilded frame, accenting the fragment piece. The piece is made up of different leaf/flower motifs, typical of items carved during this period. It appears that all of the gilding on the fragment is original to the piece. The frame does have some spacing in the corners where the frame...
Category

1860s European Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Giltwood

French Plaster Corneilla Van Cleve Bust
Located in New York, NY
French large painted plaster bust replica of Corneilla Van Cleve (Signed by a French 18th Century artist) on round shaped base.  
Category

20th Century French Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

19th Century Pair of French Louis XV Metal Noblemen Busts
Located in New York, NY
Pair of similar French Louis XV style (19th century) metal busts of 18th century style Noblemen (signed POLI).  
Category

19th Century Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Metal

1750 Circa, a Pair of Mounted Porcelain Karp Shaped Vases
Located in North Miami, FL
A pair of mounted porcelain Karp shaped vases. Gilt - Bronze Mounted Blue Enameled Stoneware, Chinese 18th Century, the Mounts are Louis XV, Circa 1750...
Category

Mid-18th Century Chinese Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Gold, Gold Leaf, Enamel, Bronze

Pair of 19th Century Gilt Bronze French Chenets
Located in Dallas, TX
This is a stunning pair of French fireplace bronze doré chenets from the 1800’s. Each chenet has a putto standing on a large cluster of curled acanthus leaves. Beneath the leaves are thick bases with cavetto molding adorned with a series of C-scrolls. Grapevines and wheat husks emanate upwards from the leaves, giving the chenets some additional height. One of the putti is pulling a grapevine over his shoulder, while the other one has a sickle in his hand. French chenets...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Louis XV Unglazed Sevre Cupid
By Eugene Robert 3
Located in New York, NY
"Figure of a Reclining Pluto", French Louis XV style (19th Cent) unglazed Sevre white parian figure of cupid reclining with two birds. (signed EUG. ROBERT)
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Porcelain

19th Century French Marble and Bronze Fountain
Located in Essex, MA
19th century French marble and bronze fountain. Seated satyr on marble column with marble shell basin. Later cast stone plinth. Wonderful garden ele...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Pair of French 19th Century Louis XV Style Cherub Gilt-Bronze Chenets Andirons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine and charming pair of French 19th-20th century Louis XV style Belle Époque figural gilt-bronze chenets. The finely chased whimsical ormolu andirons, each surmounted with a...
Category

Early 1900s French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze, Ormolu

Cipri Adolf Bermann, German, 19th Century Gilt-Bronze Bacchus Herm Term
By Cipri Adolf Bermann
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Cipri Adolf Bermann (German, 1862-1942) a very fine 19th century gilt-bronze miniature figure of a Bacchus Herm, depicting Bacchus, also known as Dionysus, the god of the grape harve...
Category

Early 1900s German Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

French Long Chenet Fire Fender with Putti, 19 Century
Located in Cypress, CA
Sensational and unique 19c French Louis XV style gilt bronze and steel large fire fender. On each corners depicting two cherubs in seated and reclin...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze, Steel

19th Century French Bust of Queen Marie Leczinska after Versailles Original
Located in New York, NY
French Sevres biscuit porcelain bust after Versailles original signed "1703-1768 Coustou." The bust portrays King Louis XV's Queen consort Mar...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Gold Leaf

Antique Molded Copper Dust Pan
Located in Sheffield, MA
The antique copper dust pan or crumber has a molded flared design with two "button" indentations at the top for the fingers. Wonderful aged patina in a favori...
Category

Mid-19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Copper

French Louis XV Cupid Figure
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (19th Cent) painted and gold trimmed figure of cupid with hammer and chisel.
Category

19th Century Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Pair of 19th Century French Gilt and Patinated Bronze Cherubs as Candelabra
Located in WEST PALM BEACH, FL
These are impressive pair of 19th century gilt metal candelabra held by an exquisitely patinated bronze cherubs'. They are placed on...
Category

1860s French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Italian Bust in Statuary Marble on Later Plaster Pedestal, 18th-19th Century
Located in Atlanta, GA
This headless bust in white marble adorned in 18th century clothing on a later plaster pedestal on square wooden base Dimensions of bust: Length 21"...
Category

Mid-18th Century Italian Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble

A French 19th-20th Century Carved White Marble Fountain Sculpture with Children
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine and charming French 19th-20th century carved white marble whimsical group sculpture depicting two putti (Children) playing with a dolphin, fitted for use as a fountain, Paris,...
Category

Early 1900s French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Pair of French Early 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Andirons Chenets
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A pair of French Early 19th century Louis XV gilt bronze figural Chenets Andirons. The scrolled and pierced body, each surmounted with a figure of a young boy and a young girl, both ...
Category

Early 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

French 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Chenet Set with Playful Children
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine and large French 19th century Louis XV style gilt bronze figural Chenet (andiron) and Fender Suite. The impressive fender surmounted on each end by a figure of playful battlin...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

French 19th Century Carved Marble Whimsical Figural Urn Fountain with Children
By Joseph Reynés I Gurgui
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine large, rare and charming, French, 19th century. Belle Époque carved white marble whimsical figural urn fountain depicting children climbing on an urn with flowers and garlands, influenced in the Louis XV style, by Joseph Reynés I Gurgui (Barcelona, 1850-1926). Signed: Reynes. Barcelona, circa 1890. An almost identical Carrara marble fountain also by Josep Reynés carved in 1893 currently at the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, Spain. Measures: Overall height: 55 inches (140 cm) Marble height: 49 inches (124.5 cm) width: 37 inches (94 cm) depth: 30 inches (76.3 cm) Joseph Reynes Gurguí (Barcelona, 1850 - 1926) is a Catalan sculptor, also known as Reynesy-Gurgui, Spanish school. He studied at the Ecole de la Llotja, studied for a time in Paris, in the workshops of the great French sculptors Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875) and Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887). He devoted himself mainly to interior decoration. His works were profoundly marked by a French influence. He exhibited in Paris in 1895 where he received an honorable mention. In 1890 he obtained the first medal in Madrid for "The Violinist". Literature: E. Benezit Dictionaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs by Grund - Nouvelle Edition, 1976 - Volume 8, Page 714. Cristina Mensoza, Ramon Casas...
Category

19th Century Spanish Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Pair of French 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Candelabra with Cherubs
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine pair of French 19th century Louis XV style figural gilt bronze and rouge marble six-light candelabra, each with a figure of a standing cherub holding the ornate scrolled arm candelabra, crowned with a gilt bronze candle snuffer...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze, Ormolu

Pair of French 19th-20th Century Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Putti Table Lamps
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine pair of French 19th-20th century Louis XV style figural gilt bronze Putti torchere table lamps on a Rouge Royal base. Each figure representi...
Category

Early 1900s French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze, Ormolu

Fine Pair of French 19th Century Marble and Gilt Bronze-Mounted Flambeaux Urns
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine pair of French 19th century Rouge-Royal marble and figural gilt bronze-mounted flambeaux urns surmounted with four ormolu figures of dolphins supporting the center urn with th...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Monumental Pair of French 19th-20th Century Putto Flambeaux Urns Torcheres
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Monumental pair of French 19th century figural gilt and patinated bronze Rosso Granite marble Flambeaux Urns Torcheres, each depicting a pair of allegorical Putti (Children) holding ...
Category

1890s French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Granite, Bronze

French Louis XV Gilt Carved Wall Plaque
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (18/19th Century) large gilt wall plaque with cupid heads and sunburst center.
Category

Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Giltwood

Pair of Louis XV Bronze Figural Lamps, 18th Century
Located in Pasadena, CA
This is a charming pair of period 18th century. Louis XV gilt bronze figural chenets that have been mounted on impressive and hefty Lucite plinths and fitted as lamps. The opposing b...
Category

Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

French, 19th Century Versailles Style Figural Torchère with Side-by-Side Putti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine and large Museum Quality french, 19th century Versailles Style Figural Torchère with two side-by-side Putti in a Brown and Parcel-Gilt Patina Holding a Four-Light gilt bronze Candelabrum with Frosted glass flame shades, by Lacarrière Delatour...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Louis Xv sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Louis XV sculptures for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the Mid-20th Century, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage sculptures created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include decorative objects, building and garden elements, lighting and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, bronze and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Louis XV sculptures made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Italy pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original sculptures, popular names associated with this style include Affortunato Gory, Cipri Adolf Bermann, Claude Michel Clodion, and Coustou. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for sculptures differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $695 and tops out at $845,000 while the average work can sell for $6,800.

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