Pair of Empire Fireplace Fronts, 1810

A pair of French Empire fireplace fronts in patinated and gilt bronze, Paris, circa 1805-1815.

Each front of architectural form, the rectangular plinth surmounted at either end by a cylindrical drum applied with a gilt rosette, the drums flanking a central recessed panel mounted with two confronted swans with outspread wings flanking a central trident surmounted by a palmette and acanthus scrollwork. Flanking pilasters mounted with ajouré palmette and acanthus trails. Reverse with original wrought iron back plate secured through squared nuts. The shallow depth indicates that the present pair were conceived as devants de cheminée (decorative façades), rather than as functional firedogs with extended iron billet bars.

Paris, First Empire, circa 1810. Unmarked.

The swan, emblem of the Empress Josephine, saturated the decorative vocabulary of the Empire period, appearing on seat furniture, bronzes d'ameublement, textiles and vessels after 1804. Paired with a trident, Neptune's attribute, the composition introduces a marine iconography particularly suited to a fireplace, where the opposition of fire and water was a recurring conceit in Parisian bronze design. Comparable confronted-swan motifs appear on documented chenets, wall lights and firedogs delivered by the great Parisian bronziers of the period, notably Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), André-Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814), Claude Galle (1759-1815) and Jean-Simon Deverberie (1764-1824).
The modest scale suits a small fireplace, or alternative display on a mantelpiece, commode or bookshelf, where the pair function equally well as decorative objects or as substantial bookends.
Condition: Gilt bronze mounts re-gilded. Patinated bronze ground retaining a fine dark green-black patina. Casting crisp, chasing well preserved. Iron back plates intact.

Dimensions: H. 30 cm · W. 20 cm · D. 5 cm.

Literature (comparable):
H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen. Die Bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, Munich, 1986, vol. I, chapters on Empire bronzes d'ameublement.
J.-P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, RMN, Paris, 1989.
M.-F. Dupuy-Baylet, L'heure, le feu, la lumière. Les Bronzes du Mobilier National 1800-1870, Éditions Faton, Dijon, 2010.
D. Ledoux-Lebard, Les ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Paris, 1984.