with fluted burning vases carried by three heads of satyrs on a base with vine branches, rosettes and a couple of doves on clouds

- Probably supplied by Claude-Jean Pitoin, 21 September 1778
- Grand cabinet of the appartement of Madame Elisabeth, château de Versailles (1785 inventory)
- Bedroom of the appartement of Madame Elisabeth, château de Fontainebleau (1787 inventory)
- Greffulhe Collection, thence by descent
- de Maigret, Paris, 13 June 2008, lot 155

Literature references:
- Exh. cat. Madame Elisabeth, une princesse au destin tragique 1764-1794, Milan, 2013

The illustration of the catalogue is accurate. Very nice quality of chasing with many details and liveliness. The gilding is rubbed and tarnished, especially to the edges and to the flat surfaces. There are minute verdigris traces to one couple of doves. Beautiful chenets made and delivered to the sister of king Louis XVI, Madame Elisabeth. Royal and high provenances.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This pair of Royal chenets was successively part of two prestigious furnishings for Madame Elisabeth at the Château of Versailles, then at the Château of Fontainebleau, before integrating into the collections of the Greffulhe family.

Madame Elisabeth, sister of King Louis XVI

Elisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène of France called Madame Elisabeth was born in 1764 (fig. 1). Granddaughter of King Louis XV and sister of King Louis XVI, her household was created in 1778 when she was fourteen years o♒ld. Several refurbishments of her apartments and residences were then orchestrated including that of Montreuil in 1787, estat💃e she received from her brother in 1783 following its purchase from the Guéméné family, but also for the Châteaux of Versailles and Fontainebleau.

Two numbers, 23 and FN 78, ꦍare present on our pair💮 of chenets corresponding respectively to the inventories for the Châteaux of Versailles in 1785 and Fontainebleau in 1787. The inventory of the furniture at Fontainebleau described them precisely in old French:

"78. A fire accessory with gilt-bronze overlaying of ground gold ornamentation on the front of a column capitol, on which are placed two lovebirds on a cloud, the accessory adorned on the front with a frieze framed by beaded row, top ornated with a garland of grape vine leaves and grapes, on the side of the plinth decorated with a garland idem on which is placed a censer surmounted by a flame decorated with three faun heads carried by 3 deer feet, the one of 16 inches wide by 17 inches high, shovel, poker, and tongs with gilt bronze rivet"

(AN O¹ 3398, fol. 143-144)

Madame Elisabeth could not benefit very long🃏 from these deliveries. Sent to Paris in 1789, jailed in the Temple Prison 💟after August 1792, she was executed after her brother and sister-in-law on 10 May 1794.

The Pitoin father and son

Quentin-Claude Pitoin (1725-1777), melted, chased, and gilded several exceptional furniture bronzes. Doreur du Roi [Gilder to the King] following his father-in-law, he entered the Saint-Luc Academy in 1752. His first Neo-Classical works, proving the revival of Antiquity and Grand Siècle forms, were probably the pair of chenets for the Grand Cabinet of the Dauphine Marie Antoinette at Versailles in 1771 (still kept in situ, inv. OA 5177, fig.3) and the pair of chenets called stag and boar delivered for Madame Du Barry's salon at Fontaineblea🐻u in 1772 (Musée du Louvre, inv. OA 5175).

We must include in 1775 the fireplace delivered for Madame Adelaide's room at Fontainebleau (deposit of the French national furniture at the Chateau of Versailles, inv. GML 5870.1 and .2), and the same year for King Louis XVI's bedroom at Versailles still in situ (inv. V 4478, fig.4). Quentin-Claude died on 3 June 177ꦕ7. Hi𒅌s son Claude-Jean then took over as head of the family workshop and succeeded his father as a chaser to the Garde-Meuble. It is to him that our pair can be attributed.

In 1779, he realized the famous pair of chenets with lyre motifs for Marie Antoinette's interior cabinet called the golden cabinet at Versailles (inv. V 4371), adapting the model created two years earlier by his father for Fontanieu, the superintendent to the Crown Garde-Meuble. By this example, as well as the work realized with a pair of wall lights for the King's council sꦅalon at the Château of Compiègne (Château of Compiègne, inv. C 64043), Pitoin father and son demonstrate once again that the reputation earned during the second half of the 18th century is justified by the high quality of their chasing and application of different shades of gold in order to play with light and create relief effects.