PAIR OF CONSULATE PERIOD OIL LAMPS After a design by Louis-Simon Boizot In chased, patinated and gilded bronze, representing the allegory of Philosophy in the guise of a young man writing and that of Study in the guise of a young woman reading, each seated on an antique-style oil lamp, resting on a quadrangular base. H. 31 cm (12 ¼ in.) l. 36 cm (14 ¼ in.) Comparative bibliography: H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al,Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1. A pair of Consulate gilt and patinated bronze oil lamps, after a model by Louis-Simon Boizot The models for The Philosopher and The Study were modelled and made in biscuit at the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1780 by Louis-Simon Boizot, sculptor to the king, who succeeded Étienne Falconet as director of the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1773. These models, directly inspired by the neo-classical revival, were a great success. They were produced in numerous editions, both in biscuit porcelain and in bronze, and were used to decorate a wide range of furnishings such as torches supported by antique lamps, andirons and Study clocks (cf. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, pp. 294 and 295). We should also remember that a drawing attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, kept at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, shows on the right of a mantelpiece a model of antique lamp very similar to the one shown here (cf. J. Bourne, V. Brett, L'Art du luminaire, Paris, 1992, p. 156, fig. 530). In this respect, it is worth noting that the bronzemaker Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) was working with Boizot at Sèvres when, in July 1783, he succeeded Jean-Claude Thomas Duplessis (1730-1783) as bronzemaker at the manufactory. A pair of oil lamps of the same model, from the former Robert de Balkany collection, sold at Sotheby's Paris on 20 September 2016, lot 9, while a second pair sold at Christie's Paris on 28 November 2017, lot 616.