Description
PAIR OF APPLIQUES WITH FIGURES OF ZEPHYR AND FLORA Paris, Regency period, circa 1700-1715 Gilt bronze H. 58 cm, W. 36 cm, D. 21 cm The figures of Flora and Zephyr form the body of these gilt bronze sconces. Turning towards each other, they hold in their hands leafy horns of plenty from which emerge undulating cords of passementerie bearing the binnacles. They are represented in bust form, supported by a sheath decorated with a garland of flowers and ending in a fall of acanthus leaves. On the left, Flora, the protective divinity of flowering, symbolizes Spring. Boticelli had associated Zephyr with her, the mischievous personification of the eponymous west wind. He is represented here with feminine features and butterfly wings, according to the goodwill of the artist and his clients. Few examples have survived; one is from the former collection of Erik Le Caruyer de Beauvais and another is in the Getty in Los Angeles (fig. 1).
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PAIR OF APPLIQUES WITH FIGURES OF ZEPHYR AND FLORA Paris, Regency period, circa 1700-1715 Gilt bronze H. 58 cm, W. 36 cm, D. 21 cm The figures of Flora and Zephyr form the body of these gilt bronze sconces. Turning towards each other, they hold in their hands leafy horns of plenty from which emerge undulating cords of passementerie bearing the binnacles. They are represented in bust form, supported by a sheath decorated with a garland of flowers and ending in a fall of acanthus leaves. On the left, Flora, the protective divinity of flowering, symbolizes Spring. Boticelli had associated Zephyr with her, the mischievous personification of the eponymous west wind. He is represented here with feminine features and butterfly wings, according to the goodwill of the artist and his clients. Few examples have survived; one is from the former collection of Erik Le Caruyer de Beauvais and another is in the Getty in Los Angeles (fig. 1).
