Pair of Louis XVI gilt bronze wall lights

A pair of finely chased and gilt bronze wall lights from the Louis XVI period, with two foliate branches holding a garland of fruit and flowers, issuing from a fluted shaft surmounted by a vase with twisted fluting, the top adorned with oak leaves.

The nozzles and drip pans are carefully decorated with flowers, cables, gadroons, and a frieze of flowers. The two fluted arms are sheathed in acanthus leaves, opening harmoniously along the curve of the branches and tightened by a ring beneath the drip pans. A small laurel garland appears beneath the arms and around the edge of the drip pans.

Louis XVI period.
Condition consistent with age and use.

Dimensions:
Height: 55 cm
Width: 36 cm
Depth: 20 cm

Provenance:
Former collection of Marguerite and Robert Kahn-Sriber, 20 avenue Foch, Paris.
Sale “Le goût français”, Christie’s Paris, 20 November 2017, lot 262.

A similar pair, differing only by a flame instead of the floral bouquet at the top of the twisted fluted vase, was formerly in the royal collections of the Château d'Eu, specifically in the bedroom of Queen Marie-Amélie in 1841.

Inventory of 1841: “Bedroom of Her Majesty the Queen
1558, 1 gilt wall light, antique form surmounted by a vase, two lights
1559, 1 wall light idem”
Archives Nationales, 300AP1-1595

Collection Galerie Perrin, Place Beauvau, Paris (publication, 2004, pp. 107–114).

Another pair, with three branches and slight variations at the top of the fluted shaft, is in the grand salon of the Château du Champ-de-Bataille, in the collections of Jacques Garcia.
A comparable model with four branches is held at the Ministry of the Interior, Place Beauvau, Paris.

Former collection Mr. and Mrs. Kahn-Sriber

Marguerite and Robert Kahn-Sriber, collectors and patrons, assembled one of the most important collections of Impressionist paintings in the second half of the 20th century, notably including The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh and Large Nude by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, both now preserved at the Musée d'Orsay.

Alongside these masterpieces were works illustrating the genius and creativity of the 17th and 18th centuries: porcelain, silverware, mounted crystal objects, sculptures, and classical furniture, such as the elegant Louis XVI games table in Japanese lacquer donated by the couple in 1964 to the Château de Versailles.

This remarkable Parisian collection was housed at 20 avenue Foch. The interior decoration was entrusted in the 1960s to Stéphane Boudin of the Maison Jansen, then highly regarded both in France and internationally, as demonstrated by Boudin’s involvement in the renovation of the White House (1961–1963) at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy.

For this refined post-war Parisian interior, Maison Jansen successfully combined Old Master paintings with historic decorative arts, and also supplied furniture, including one of its tables (lot 251) for the dining room, where a spectacular Boulle clock “Day and Night” was displayed.

Other works from this collection, further illustrating the refined taste of this enlightened couple, have appeared in subsequent sales in Paris, including rare books and manuscripts, The Exceptional Sale, and jewellery auctions.