FRANCE, ÉPOQUE RÉGENCE, DÉBUT DU XVIIIe SIÈCL... Lot n° 19

PAIR OF HOLDER HOLDERS "WITH SHELLS" Golden walnut H. 112 cm, W. 28 cm, D. 28 cm This elegant pair of molded, carved and gilded wooden torch holders consists of a baluster-shaped barrel punctuated with fluting, large shells and rings. They are topped with a hexagonal-shaped tray decorated with foliage. The tripod base is composed of sticks bordered with plants and channels. Under the Regency, the use of flares became increasingly rare compared to the previous reign. However, between 1720 and the 1730s, ornamentalists such as François de Cuvillès (1695-1738) continued to promote this type of furniture, as can be seen in the engraving made by the latter, which shows a torchier with a formal repertoire very close to ours, particularly in terms of its base (fig. 1). These forms, so characteristic of the decorative arts during the Regency, are found in a flare torchier currently kept at the Ecole des Beaux-arts de Paris (fig. 2).