A PAIR OF FRENCH BRONZE CHENETS

Several models of chenets with sphinx exist, dating from the 1780's. An example with winged sphinxes with similarly-tied headresses and with similar female mask centering the frieze, attributed to either Pierre Gouthière or Pierre-Philippe Thomire, exists in several versions in the Louvre, Versailles and the Cleveland Museum of Art (see H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol.I, p.276, fig. 4.11.4.). This model is based on a drawing by the architect François-Joseph Bélanger in the Bibliothèque Nationale, illustrated op. cit., fig. 4.11.13.