SET OF 4 SCONCES "À FLÈCHE",
Empire, France ca. 1805-1810. Model by Claude Galle (1759-1815), maître 1786.
Bronze, dark patinated and parcel-gilt.
H 62 cm.

3 nozzles, replaced. Gilding, rubbed.

The sconces on offer, in the Neo-Classical style of the French Empire, are characterized by their hunting motif decoration (arrow, hunting horn, mask of the hunting goddess Diana and lion heads), and bear testimony of the talent of Claude Gale (1795-1815), a bronze artist for the Guard-Meuble Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte. Together with Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) and André-Antoine Ravrio (1759-1814), Claude Galle was one of the most popular bronze artists of his time and executed commissioned works for the decoration of the Trianon, the Châteaux of Fontainebleau, Saint-Cloud, Compiègne and the Tuileries Palace. Identical sconces "à la flèche" are still exhibited today in the Châteaux of Versailles and Fontainebleau. The former were created on the occasion of a reception for the Secretary of State in 1806, the latter in Versailles around 1809 for the Emperor's dining room.