A LOUIS XV ORMOLU TWO-LIGHT ENCRIER

The design for this superb encrier, which consists entirely of broadly modelled scrolls, is closely related to the work of Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755), sculpteur, fondeur et ciseleur du Roi. Its base is similar to that of the porcelain-mounted 'Turkish' clock in the Residenz, Munich, which is often linked to this maker (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, Pl. VIII, p. 87). Particularly noteworthy is the distinctive foliate-cast lid of the present encrier, which relates closely to the clasps on one of the so-called 'Parma' chandeliers in the Wallace Collection, which was executed by Caffiéri circa 1751 (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Collection of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, no. 266, pp. 1317-1322). Cupid's studious companions, who are seated on a scroll and on the edges of hollow-sided pedestal, are similar both in pose and chasing to those on a pair of chenets in the Wallace Collection, which are attributed to Philippe Caffiéri (1714-1774), possibly using models of infants designed by his father Jacques (ibid., no. 268, pp. 1322-1325)