pair of andirons with "magots" Louis XIV period

Pair of andirons depicting patinated bronze magots seated on gilt bronze pedestals with a four-leaf motif in reserves resting on four scroll-shaped feet.

The two patinated bronze figures called "magot" are the representation of the god Poussah, god of contentment. In the 17th and 18th centuries we find them made in different materials and described as "bizarre figures that we look at as representing Chinese or Indians" by Diderot in the Encyclopedia. He ridiculed this mania for collecting such figures by calling the hoards "precious trinkets which the nation stubbornly persisted". This stubbornness or taste for what was called under Louis XIV "Lachinage" began in the 1660s. Porcelain and Chinese lacquer furniture are present in Parisian collections. The lavish reception organized by Louis XIV for the arrival of the ambassadors of the King of Siam in 1686 will help consolidate this fashion and at the same time make it evolve. The artists appropriate certain stylistic codes and were inspired by stories and works to transcribe them on their creations.

We find an identical bronze base on a pair of andirons Sotheby's sale, Monaco, December 9, 1984, n ° 902. (Instead of the hoards they are pyramidal vases)