High-resolultion photograph(s) Download

Gilt bronze. Four Louis XVI style wall appliqués. Based on models by Pierre-François Feuchère (1737–1823, Paris). Combination of matte and burnished bronze; arms feature a floral motif in the shape of tulips decorated with mother-of-pearl. Lyre with the head of a muse and four strings in center; a bow tops the appliqué, holding a fabric motif all the way down to the bottom of the appliqué, which is finished with two tassels. There are several similar, somewhat smaller models with lyres: from the collections of Schloss Johannisburg in Aschaffenburg and in the Wrightsman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Both are shown in: H. Ottomeyer / P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Die Bronzarbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, München 1986; I. p. 242. From the many advertisements Feuchère made during the Louis XVI era, it is clear that he owned a large number of bronze objects and was a dealer before the French Revolution. Headed with his son, Lucien-François, Feuchère became one of the main suppliers of bronze for the Garde-Meuble (royal furniture warehouse) and furnished the palaces in Tuileries, Compiègne, Meudon, Petit Trianon and Pitti.