A pair of Empire three lights wall lights, attributed to PP Thomire

A fine pair of Empire gilt and patinated bronze three-light wall-lights attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, each with a patinated bronze lion head mask within the circular backplate, the lion holding in its mouth a coiled snake that forms a central ring and two scrolled side branches, each supporting a facetted vase-shaped candle nozzle.

Paris, date circa 1810-20
Width 22 cm, diameter of the backplate 14 cm. each.

These superb wall-lights or appliques combine elements from two sets delivered by Thomire-Duterme for the Emperor Napoleon’s Palace at Fontainebleau in 1810. Other lion-mask wall-lights were supplied by Claude Galle (1759-1815) to the Grand-Trianon at Versailles in 1810, as documented in Denise Ledoux-Lebard “Le Grand Trianon: Meuble et Objets d’Art”, 1975, p. 61.

Patronised by Napoleon, his family as well as by foreign royal courts, the esteemed fondeur-ciseleur Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) needed to expand his business in order meet growing demand. Thus in 1804 he purchased from the marchand-mercier Martin-Eloi Lignereux his extensive business, thus allowing him to operate on a much larger scale. Renaming the company Thomire-Duterme et Cie, Thomire retained the showroom at rue Taitbout and from there retailed a large range of decorative objects. Many of the pieces made at his workshop at rue Boucherat were supplied to the Imperial household and other notable families. Thomire’s production included some of the finest gilt bronze objects of the period, from centrepieces and candelabra to clock cases and furniture.