PAIR OF SCONCES FROM THE LOUIS XVI PERIOD In the taste of Jean-Charles Delafosse In chased and gilded bronze, with three scrolled arms holding laurel garlands, the fluted shaft adorned with a ram's head and surmounted by a fire pot; restorations. H. 50 cm (19 ½ in.) l. 30 cm (11 ¾ in.) A pair of Louis XVI gilt-bronze three-branch wall-lights, in the taste of Jean-Charles Delafosse This pair of sconces is perfectly in keeping with the neoclassical style of the 1760s and 1770s. Their shafts, surmounted by fire pots and decorated with laurel garlands, recall a design attributed to the famous architect and ornamentalist Jean-Charles Delafosse (cfr. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p.186, fig. 3.9.5.). A pair of three-arm sconces, with a ram's head in the center of the shaft, is in the Musée du Louvre and illustrated in ibid p.186, fig. 3.9.2. Other examples with two arms of light are listed at the Residenz in Munich. Comparable examples sold in recent years include the pair sold by Christie's London on July 5, 2013, lot 185, and the five-armed pair sold by Sotheby's New York on May 20, 2010, lot 65. Finally, a variant featuring a satyr's head in place of the ram was sold at Christie's Paris, December 19, 2007, lot 726.