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Lot Essay
The 'C' couronné poinçon was a tax mark employed on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.
These magnificent chenets epitomize the playful spirit of the rococo style of the 1740s. Boldly sculptural, they are conceived in the form of prancing horses on boldly pierced rocaille bases. During the 18th Century, chenets with horses, some with saddle cloths or modelled as sea horses, were highly fashionable. As quoted by Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974), a number are listed in the inventories made after the deaths of the celebrated bronzier Jacques Caffiéri and of the wife of Philippe Caffiéri (dated 1755 and 1770 respectively).
The modelling of the horses closely relates to those executed by Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746) for Marly. The celebrated collector Blondel de Gagny owned a related pair sold in his sale after death in Paris, 10 December 1776, lot 1028:
Une grille de cheminée composée de deux chevaux posés sur de beaux trophées de guerre qui servent de pieds; ce sont les modeles de Coustout qui on servi pour les deux chevaux qui sont à la tete de l'abreuvoir de Marly; ils sont dorés d'or moulu, & viennent du garde meuble du Roi.
These magnificent chenets epitomize the playful spirit of the rococo style of the 1740s. Boldly sculptural, they are conceived in the form of prancing horses on boldly pierced rocaille bases. During the 18th Century, chenets with horses, some with saddle cloths or modelled as sea horses, were highly fashionable. As quoted by Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974), a number are listed in the inventories made after the deaths of the celebrated bronzier Jacques Caffiéri and of the wife of Philippe Caffiéri (dated 1755 and 1770 respectively).
The modelling of the horses closely relates to those executed by Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746) for Marly. The celebrated collector Blondel de Gagny owned a related pair sold in his sale after death in Paris, 10 December 1776, lot 1028:
Une grille de cheminée composée de deux chevaux posés sur de beaux trophées de guerre qui servent de pieds; ce sont les modeles de Coustout qui on servi pour les deux chevaux qui sont à la tete de l'abreuvoir de Marly; ils sont dorés d'or moulu, & viennent du garde meuble du Roi.