RARE PAIR OF SCONCES "AUX MAGOTS FRANCE, LOUIS XIV PERIOD, CIRCA 1750 Gilt bronze, patinated and lacquered copper H. 40 cm, L. 26 cm Provenance: Former collection of the Countess Zoubov, Geneva Acquired in 1977 from the Grandes Epoques gallery in Geneva Paris Collection This pair of two-light sconces in very finely chased and gilded bronze, with rocaille decoration of scrolls, foliage and flowers, testifies to the golden age of the Chinese taste in the French decorative arts in the 18th century. They are distinguished from other models of this period by the presence of two "magots" in black, red and gold lacquered copper to resemble as closely as possible the precious lacquers of China and Japan. Diderot and d'Alembert's encyclopedia gives the following definition of the term "magot": "figures in clay, plaster, copper, porcelain, collected, counterfeit, bizarre that we look as representing Chinese or Indians. Our apartments are decorated with them. They are precious trinkets of which the nation has been stubborn... this reign is that of the magots. It is interesting to quote some inventories after death and auction records of the 18th century mentioning the presence of such objects in the refined interiors of the time. For example, in the catalogue raisonné of Louis-Jean Gaignat's sale in Paris in 1769, a pair of comparable three-branched sconces is described: "189 a pair of three-branched mantelpiece arms, of a fine chased and gilded model. In each arm is a figure of a magot varnished in lacquer and richly dressed in the Japanese style by Martin". Gaignat also owned a large clock by Pierre Le Roy: "it is decorated with several copper figures representing copper figures by Martin imitating lacquer: they are richly dressed and worked...". The description of these objects by the famous merchant Simon Philipe Poirier (circa 1720-1785) attributes these magots to the famous family of Parisian varnish makers, the Martins. Moreover, in the inventory of the Duchess of Maine, a great lover of antique lacquerware and whose interior was of the latest style, the expert uses the term "pagoda" to designate these Chinese figures, which he always attributes to Martin. "...in the room next to the said cabinet of China...n° 521 two girandoles with two branches of gilded copper carried on two pagodas of verny of Martin mounted in gilded bronze of ground gold taken 140 livres...". If the statements of the Martin goods are silent on these lacquered bronze figures, the mentions "of" and "by" Martin by the experts of these sales, most often mercer merchants, seem to prove that they produced them. Research carried out by the research laboratory of the Museums of France on this type of lacquered figure makes it possible to specify the technique used: several organic layers were applied to a copper base to form a barrier with the metal support and to allow the black lacquer layer to adhere. The decoration was then made by applying red and brown lacquers with gold mixed in. If we know a certain number of these fi gures of "magots" in lacquered copper, bringing their note of exoticism to western objects such as andirons, clocks, cartels, paperweights (Fig. 1 to 3). The light arms such as those we present remain rare. However, let us mention a pair of comparable sconces sold at Sotheby's in Paris on November 9, 2010, lot 177 (Fig. 4). This pair of sconces illustrates the incomparable perfection achieved by the French bronziers and lacquerers of this period, who never ceased to renew forms, techniques and decorations in order to produce a refined production that enchanted a rich European clientele fascinated by the Far East.