A pair of Louis XIV giltwood porte-torchères, circa 1700

Thierry de Maigret, Drouot, Paris, 5 June 2013, lot 185 (sold 20 000€)

Giltwood torchères were particularly popular during the reign of Louis XIV, designed to hold girandoles or candelabra to illuminate a room. They are always found in pairs, or in larger numbers if placed in larger spaces such as galleries.

Our model is very rare because its tripod legs scroll outwards, whereas most models from the Louis XIV period have inward scrolls. A similar pair of torchères with inward scrolls is held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. BK-NM-14302-A and B), another in the same style is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (inv. 07.225.190a-b), and yet another pair is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (inv. 4325A). We should also mention a pair of giltwood torchères (181 cm high) with the same type of scroll as on our model at Christie’s London, 30 September 2014, lot 13.