A PAIR OF RUSSIAN EMPIRE GILT-BRONZE THREE-LIGHT WALL-LIGHTS

These wall-lights are extremely similar to an example in the collection at the St. Petersburg museum Tsarskoe Selo, which are traditionally attributed to Jean-Pierre de Lancry, who supplied ornamental bronzes to the Imperial Court between 1804 and 1807. These included sconces 'with a representation of Minerva's heads in helmets...', a description referring to this same design (I. Sychev, Russian Bronze, Moscow, 2003, p. 101). A strikingly similar example of this Minerva mask can also be found on a French Empire chandelier illustrated in the Vergoldete Bronzen (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, pp. 306, plate XXXVIII). A pair was sold Christie's, New York, 5-19 November 2021, lot 126 ($6,875, including premium).