A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU CENTERPIECES

The present suite of finely-cast ormolu works, lots 128-130, is characteristic of objets d’art acquired from Parisian dealers by John Hare Powel (d. 1856), the Philadelphia and Newport-based art collector and architecture enthusiast. Powel’s affinity for neoclassicism is well documented and he famously built a Greek revival home in West Philadelphia in the early 19th century to suit his burgeoning interest in Neoclassic forms. Furthermore, Powel’s taste for the Antique led him to acquire works in the style by leading bronziers of the mid-19th century, including the celebrated fondeur Denière from whom he directly commissioned nearly a dozen objects for his mansion, Powelton (B. Hawkins, “Grecian Splendor: The City Mansion of John Hare Powel”, Thesis (Historic Preservation), University of Pennsylvania, 1988, p. 148). Though apparently unmarked, this wonderfully sculptural group is reminiscent of those cast by Denière and his contemporary, Thomire & Cie., both prolific early 19th century bronziers who remained active through the Second Empire.