H. Vian

Bronze-caster

(19th Century)

attributed to

A rare pair of Louis XVI style wall-lights

France

Circa 1880

Height : 62 cm (24 1/2 in.) ; Width : 30 cm (11 3/4 in.) ; Depth : 15 cm (6 in.)

Chased and gilt bronze sconces, each comprising a “gun barrel” shaft surmounted by a pine cone and entwined with ivy branches. Two foliated creepers tied with a cloth are interlaced around the central shaft and give rise to two grooved candle branches with candle rings decorated with water leaves.

Biography

Henri Vian, a bronze-caster active in the second half of the 19th Century, made a lot of interior decorations with chimney mantelpieces, ormolu and patinated-mounted vases, chandeliers,… He became especially renowned for his light decorations of high quality.

Bibliography

L’univers des bronzes, Yves Devaux, Ed. Pygmalion, Paris, 1978.

“La petite sculpture au XIXe s. Les éditeurs”, Bernard Metman, Archives de l’Art français, 1989, t. XXX, p° 179.