Elegant Pair of Bronze Torcheres by F. Barbedienne, P. Dubois and A. Falguière

Total height with mirror: 383 cm (151 in.) Console : Height : 97 cm (38 in.) ; Length : 291 cm (114 in.) ; Depth : 47 cm (18 in.) Height with pedestals : 178 cm (70 in.) – Width of pedestals tops : 36 x 23 cm (14 x 9 in.) Provenance: Hôtel de Bourbon-Condé, for the Conte de Chambrun, 12 rue Monsieur, 7th arrondissement, Paris. This magnificent white carrare and bleu turquin marble Louis XVI style console is embellished with carved and gilded bronze ornaments. The belt, adorned with a fluted frieze, masks of Bacchus and rosettes, is standing on six spirally fluted feet with foliage on the extremities. The part meant to be placed against the wall is divided in several pannels framed with moulded and beaded bronze. Above the console stands a giltwood and white-painted mirror, richly decorated at its top with a carved head of Apollo flanked by acanthus leaves and treillis. The mirror is framed by two patinated bronze female figures, each holding seven-light candelabra and standing on pedestals richly adorned with laurel garlands and bronze frames. These are casts by F.Barbedienne, after models by J.A.J. Falguière and P.Dubois (they are signed to the base, one ‘FALGVIERE and F.BARBEDIENNE. FONDEUR’, the other ‘P.DUBOIS’ and ‘F.BARBEDIENNE’). The original models of these bronzes were shown at the 1867 Exposition Universelle before being installed at the Château de Compiègne for the enjoyment of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. The masterful console was commissionned to Barbedienne around 1880 to garnish the interiors of the Conte de Chambrun at the Hôtel de Bourbon-Condé, 12 rue Monsieur, 7th arrondissement, Paris. This console was part of the sale of the count’s art and furniture collections that took place on the 18th of June 1900 after the count’s death (listed as lot n°52 in the sale catalogue). Born in 1810, died in Paris in 1892, Ferdinand Barbedienne, the most important caster of bronze pieces of art during the second half of the 19th Century, created and directed in Paris one of the major artistic founderies of his time. Barbedienne specialised in classical reproductions, whose models were exposed in famous European museums. Their illustrated catalogues included many diverse objects such as busts, ornemental sculpture (clocks, candelabras, cups) sometimes even life-sized and also bronzes for furniture. Apart from his own production, Barbedienne worked for the most renowned sculptors such as Barrias, Clésinger and Carrier-Belleuse. All his works were highly esteemed and he, himself honoured by contemporary critics. At the London exhibition in 1851 Barbedienne's firm won two « Council medals ». At the 1855 Universal Exhibition, he won a medal of honour. The success of Barbedienne's firm brought him many official commissions. At the London Universal Exhibition of 1862 Barbedienne won medals in three different categories : Furniture, Silversmith work and Artistic bronzes. Barbedienne was made an officer of the Légion d'Honneur in 1867 and Commander in 1878 when he was compared with « a prince of industry and the king of bronze casting ». His glory did not decline with the passage of the time for at the Universal Exhibition of 1889 the critics thanked Barbedienne for the example he set for other bronze-casters by the perfection of his bronzes. Paul Dubois (1829-1905) studied law before entering the workshop of Toussaint, then the School of Fine Arts. After travelling in Italy, he participated to the Salon of 1863 and won the third medal for the sculpture category. He won several other medals : the Medal of Honour with his Florentine Singer...

Signed P. Dubois 1865 and F. Barbedienne fondeur Stamped with réduction mécanique Collas A patinated bronze « Florentine Singer » sculpture, inspir...

Signed Ad Toussaint 1850 and F. Barbedienne Fondeur Stamped Achille Collas Réduction Mécanique Torcheres – height : 148 cm (58 1/4 in.) ; width : 34 cm (13 1/3 in.) Pedestals – ...

Inscribed A. Carrier and Anc. Mon Colin éditeur – fondeur, Paris Measures: Torchère height 193 cm (75.9 in.), base height 29 cm (11.4 in.), diameter base 40 cm (15.7 in.). 2 torchères + 2 bases Exceptional pair of "Night" and "Day" female torchère-holders, made in dark patinated bronze. Each dressed with antique style drapes, and holding up a gilt-bronze five light-arms candelabra. Day, bareheaded and with braided hair ; Night, the head covered by her coat and holding poppy flowers and fruits symbolizing sleep. Standing on a molded pedestal. These female torchère-holders repeat a common theme created by Carrier-Belleuse, what model for one of the two shapes was presented for the first time at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867. It was then used on a big clock made in collaboration with G. Viot company. The bronze figure holds a large pendulum instead of a candelabrum. (reproduced and commented in 1851-1900 Le arti decorative alle grandi Esposizioni Universalli, D. Alcouffe, Idea Libri, p° 78, n° 256.) Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887), nick-named the “Clodion of the 19th century”, was a very prolific sculptor, treating his decorative objects and his portraits with equal naturalistic rigor, full of charm and life. He entered the Paris Fine-Arts school in 1840, where he studied sculpture under David d’Angers. From the early 1860s, he won success with his sculptures presented at the French Artists Salon and particularly during the 1867 Salon, where he was awarded a “médaille d’honneur” and the “Légion d’honneur” for his Messiah. The “new” Paris redesigned by the Baron Haussmann during Napoleon IIIrd’s reign, commissioned many of Carriere-Belleuse’s masterpieces: at the Louvre palace with the high-relief “L’Abondance” on the Flore Pavilion (1865), or the sumptuous decoration made for the most famous Parisian palace on the Champs-Elysées Avenue, owned by the Marchioness of Païva. But it is especially with the torchères-statues of the large staircase of the Paris Opera house (1873), recently built by Charles Garnier, that Carrier-Belleuse meets a huge success with the Parisian public. In the catalogue of the 1878 Universal Exhibition an art critic praised Carrier-Belleuse and added: “Even the English come from London to ask him to work for them”. His busts, nudes, group compositions as well as his candelabras, vases and clocks, all chased remarkably, had a considerable success during the Second Empire. Emile Colin, a renowned founder installed since 1843, No. 29 Sévigné Street in Paris, cast as soon as 1855 for the most well-know masters of France sculpture, such A.E. Carrier-Belleuse (Le Zouave), J. Pradier (Les Trois Grâces, Vénus consolant l’Amour) or J.B. Carpeaux since 1875 (L’Enfant au cor), as well as the famous Parisian silversmith Christofle. Colin used to stamp his bronzes of the mention “Emile Colin & Cie” from 1882 until 1898. That mark became later “M. Colin & Cie” from 1898 until 1906, then “Ancienne Maison Colin...

Height without/with lampshade : 168/185 cm (66,1 / 72,8 in.) ; Base : 43 x 43 cm (16,9 x 16,9 in.) Beautiful pair of neo-Greek floor lamps in bronze with double patina, composed of cylindrical lamps, decorated on the body with a rotating frieze representing women dressed in the Antique style weaving and spinning, surmounted by lampshades with cut sides in red pleated silk with golden braid. They are placed on pedestals from which hang thin chains attached to the slender shaft decorated with stylized leaves and flowers, resting on a tripod base decorated with large palmettes and ending in lion’s paws. The stylistic repertoire used here, composed in particular of palmettes, masks, and nymphs, evokes Greek Antiquity, as does the reuse of forms of furniture and objects such as tripods and antique vases. The rediscovery in the 18th century of the archaeological remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum allowed artists of all disciplines to draw inspiration from Antiquity while reinterpreting it. This trend did not fade and, in the 19th century, many personalities fitted out their interiors with neo-Greek furniture, as was the case for the Maison Pompéienne built in 1856 by the architect Alfred Normand (1822-1909) for Prince Napoleon, or Empress Eugénie who bought from the Maison Barbedienne pedestals inspired by antique tripods. Related work : Pedestal model presented by Maison Barbedienne at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855. On this occasion, Empress Eugénie bought it for her bathroom in the Château de Saint-Cloud. This model pleased the Empress so much that she ordered two other pairs in 1858 for her boudoir in the palaces of Compiègne and Fontainebleau. (see photo attached) Photo showing a floor lamp similar to ours in Empress Eugénie’s bedroom in the Château de Compiègne (Oise), in Architecture intérieure et Décoration en France des...

Signed Désiré Attarge Fit and F. Barbedienne Paris Pair of silvered bronze cups, chased by Désiré Attarge after an antique model (Ist Century), known as the Coupe d’Alésia or Cantha...

Mounted as lamps and cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne after models by Alexandre Falguiere and Paul Dubois. Both statues are signed on the bases. These fine torchères are reductions ...

Pair of gilt bronze table candelabra by Ferdinand Barbedienne French, late 19th century Measures: Height 97cm, width 46cm, depth 35cm These large and finely cast candelabra were...

A Pair of Gilt and Patinated Bronze Figural Five-Light Candelabra Cast by Barbedienne after the Models by Alexandre Falguière and Paul Dubois. Signed ‘FALGUIERE’ and ‘P. DUBOIS’ ...

A pair of Figural Porte-Lumières, cast by Barbedienne from the celebrated Armand Toussaint Models Constructed in bronze, and having a patinated natural, and a highlighted gilt patin...

A highly important pair of large patinated bronze figural torcheres by Émile Guillemin, cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne. French, dated 1872. Barbedienne Title: 'Deux Femmes, Indi...

Pair of marble and gilt bronze table lamps, signed F. Barbedienne. France, circa 1880-1890. The dimensions are without the shade.