PAIR OF SCONCES FROM THE LOUIS XVI PERIOD In the taste of Jean-Charles Delafosse In chased and gilded bronze, with three scrolled arms holding laurel garlands, the fluted shaft adorned with a ram's head and surmounted by a fire pot; restorations H. 50 cm (19 ½ in.) l. 30 cm (11 ¾ in.) A pair of Louis XVI gilt-bronze three-branch wall-lights, in the taste of Jean-Charles Delafosse This pair of sconces is perfectly in keeping with the Neoclassical style of the 1760s and 1770s. Their shafts, surmounted by fire pots and decorated with laurel garlands, recall a design attributed to the famous architect and ornamentalist Jean-Charles Delafosse (cf. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p.186, fig. 3.9.5.). A pair of three-armed sconces, with a ram's head in the centre of the shaft, are in the Musée du Louvre and are illustrated in ibid, p.186, fig. 3.9.2. Other examples with two arms are in the Residenz in Munich. Comparable examples that have come up for sale in recent years include the pair sold at Christie's London on 5 July 2013, lot 185, and the five-armed pair sold at Sotheby's New York on 20 May 2010, lot 65. Finally, a variant with a satyr's head instead of a ram was sold at Christie's Paris on 19 December 2007, lot 726.