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Beautiful Louis XVI–inspired chandelier attr. to H. Vian in finely chased and gilt bronze with blue patinated accents, featuring four lights. The central shaft, shaped like a quiver and associated with the iconography of Apollo or Cupid, is adorned with four female heads alternating with fluted light arms decorated with scrolling acanthus leaves and vine tendrils, surmounted by goat heads. The lower terminal, ornamented with acanthus leaves, ends in a pinecone finial. The chandelier is suspended by four linked chains gathered at the top by a bouquet of stylized acanthus leaves forming a flared corolla.
The attribution to Henri Vian is based on stylistic analogies with pieces from his workshop, particularly in the quality of the chasing, the vigor of the animal figures, and the richness of the ornamentation. Vian, an appointed supplier to an aristocratic and international clientele, distinguished himself in the production of art bronzes that combined references to the eighteenth century with free interpretations of the classical repertoire.
This quiver-form chandelier thus belongs to the Neo–Louis XVI current as reinterpreted by the eclecticism of the end of the century. It combines formal erudition, technical virtuosity, and decorative power, reflecting the ambition of Parisian bronze-casters to rival the masterpieces of earlier centuries while responding to the expectations of an international market seeking prestige and historicist exoticism
Biography :
Henri Vian, a bronze-caster active in the second half of the 19th Century, made a lot of interior decorations with chimney mantelpieces, ormolu and patinated-mounted vases, chandeliers,… He produced articles of the highest quality. The business, located at 5 rue de Thorigny in Paris (the Salé Mansion, now the Picasso Museum), was continued by Madame Vian after her husband’s death in 1905.
