Wall sconce (bras de cheminée) (one of a pair)

Sèvres Manufactory|Jean-Claude Duplessis

ca. 1761 · Soft-paste porcelain, gilt bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Shaped like foliated rococo scrolls after a design by the goldsmith Jean-Claude Duplessis (act. 1745/48–1774), few Sèvres wall sconces were produced. Between 1761 and 1768 the manufactory sold only about 20 pairs. This particular pair may be the green and gold wall sconces that Madame de Pompadour purchased for 384 livres in December of 1761. One of the most important patrons of the manufactory, Madame de Pompadour kept her wall sconces in the grand cabinet de l'angle at the Château de Menars according to the 1764 inventory drawn up after her death. This inventory also lists bobèches or sockets of gilt bronze.

Artist

Sèvres Manufactory|Jean-Claude Duplessis

Date

ca. 1761

Medium

Soft-paste porcelain, gilt bronze

Culture

French, Sèvres

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1958