Pair of Bacchus sconces, Paris, Louis XV period circa 1780

Important pair of finely chiseled bronze sconces gilded with mercury.
Neoclassical in shape, they feature barrels in the shape of quivers with rough fluting.
They are surmounted by "antique" cassolettes decorated with garlands of laurels.
The lower parts terminated by leafy bases.
In the center of the masks of grimacing Bacchus are framed by garlands of laurels.
From the barrels, three sconces with acanthus leaves start which support cups with palmette bases and sconces decorated with strigils.

Beautiful state of conservation, original gilding, cups and barrels formerly pierced for electricity.

Parisian work from the Louis XVI period around 1780, to be compared to the drawings of the ornamentalist of Jean Louis Prieur.

Dimensions:

Height: 53cm; Width: 40cm; Depth: 23cm

Our opinion :

The important pair of sconces that we present is characteristic of the purest neoclassical style which was fashionable in Paris in the 1780s.
The shape of the arms, with its "Greek-style" cutout, the strigiles, the cassolettes or even the masks of Bacchus are reinterpretations of Greco-Roman antiquity.
The presence of acanthus leaves on the arms is reminiscent of the transition style and indicates a fairly early production in the reign of Louis XVI, datable to the end of the 1770s or the very beginning of the following decade.