AN EMPIRE ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRONZE 'LAMPE DOCIMASTIQUE', EARLY 19TH CENTURY

AN EMPIRE ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRONZE 'LAMPE DOCIMASTIQUE'BY THÉODORE-PIERRE BERTIN, EARLY 19TH CENTURYInset with a silver medallion stamped non aliunde, later converted for electricity34cm high, 30cm wideThis model was designed and patented by Théodore-Pierre Bertin (1751-1819), in 1799 and another pattern after Bertin's design is illustrated in Percier & Fontaine's Recueil de décorations intérieures, 1801-12 (plate 5a). An almost identical example is in the collection of the Musée Charles Friry, France.The eagle claw foot seen here follows Renaissance Paduan bronzes that were traditionally accredited to Andrea Briosco Riccio (1470-1532) but now reattributed to the sixteenth century master Severo di Domenico Calzetta, known as da Ravenna (active 1496-1525). One such candlestick by da Ravenna is in the collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art, Vancouver (77.1259.6). The eagle claw form also appears on an oil lamp by da Ravenna in the Fitzwilliam Museum (M.12-1997) and on the stem of a nautilus cup at the British Museum (WB 114).Several variants are recorded, including:Another sold Christie's South Kensington, 22 September 2009, lot 363;A version with the same reservoir in the form of a Roman oil lamp, sold Sotheby & Co., London, René Fribourg Collection, 17 October 1963, lot 651.

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