Pair of ormoulu and patinated bronze oil lamps

Embossed gilt bronze and patinated bronze, representing the allegory of Philosophy and Study, each seated on an antique oil lamp, with an edge in gadroon motif, on a square footed base
France, Consulat period, circa 1800
H 31 x W 36 cm
Based on a model by Louis-Simon Boizot
Comparative literature: H. Ottomeyer et P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1.

This pair of oil lamps is clearly designed in a neoclassical style, and, more specifically, in the 'Etruscan' style which came into vogue in the 1780s. This style draws its inspiration from antique forms rediscovered in archaeological digs, in particular those at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and manifested in the decorative arts by simple lines and ornamentation inspired by Antiquity.

The allegorical figures of Philosophy and Study, which decorate these lamps, are taken from models created by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), then sculptor for the King. Boizot designed them for the first time in 1780 for a lamp in the antique style. He sold the model to the Sèvres factory, which then reproduced it in biscuit porcelain until 1786. These two figures were also used in the famous clock model, 'To Study and to Philosophy', created based on a drawing by François Rémond for the decorative arts merchant Dominique Daguerre.

It is important to note that Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843), a reputed bronze worker, collaborated with Boizot in Sèvres beginning in 1783, the date when he succeeded Jean-Claude Thomas Duplessis (1730-1783) as the official bronze worker for the factory. The involvement of Thomire in the production of bronzes of this type is widely acknowledged.
Comparable oil lamps include:
- a pair kept at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (inv. 88.SB.113.1 et 88.SB.113.2), attributed to Thomire;
- another from the former collection of Sir Robert Abdy, sold at Christie's London on June 9th, 1994, lot 65,;
- a pair offered for sale at Christie's London on December 13th, 2001, lot 430.
- finally, a pair presented in the Madame Simone Steinitz collection at Christie's in Paris on June 19th, 2025, Paris lot 126.

A drawing attributed to Thomire, kept at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, depicts a very similar lamp placed to the right of a fireplace (cf. J. Bourne et V. Brett, L’art du luminaire, Paris, 1992, p. 156, fig. 530). In addition, two sketches found in an album of drawings analysed by P. Rosenberg and B. Peronnet (Revue de l’Art, n° 142, 2003-2004) bear witness to the distribution and success of these models. They perfectly illustrate the taste for Antiquity, which dominated French decorative arts in the late eighteenth century.