Object Description
A beautiful French Louis XVI revival ormolu mounted marble table lamp, Circa 1860 in date.
This beautiful ormolu mounted boldly veined breche violette mable table lamp is decorated with superb ormolu swan handles and rococo decoration, is of baluster form and is raised on a shaped square base with anthemion beading.
Later converted to electricity from an antique urn.
This is an exceptional piece of craftsmanship, a truly elegant piece. This lamp deserves pride of place in any furniture collection and will become the central focus point in your room.
Condition:
In excellent working condition the ormolu having been beautifully cleaned and the lamp professionally rewired, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 47 x Width 19 x Depth 19
Dimensions in inches:
Height 1 foot, 6 inches x Width 7 inches x Depth 7 inches
Violet Breche marble is extracted from the town of Serravezza, near to the Carrara region in Italy. It is a very heterogeneous marble made up of hues going from white to dark violet, whilst passing through shades of pink, all combined together with a violet-coloured cement.
Violet Breche is very similar to the Breche of Serravezza, where the cement is grey rather than violet.
Violet Breche is found in the same place as Fleur de Pêcher marble.
In his Dictionary of Business and Industry, Blanqui describes Violet Breche. “This marble that is frequently used on the most beautiful churches in Italy, and is found on several tables and columns in the galleries of the Louvre Museum, offers an elegant detail to monumental architecture. The quarries that produce it are several miles from Serravezza, and are found in the commune of Stazzema. When the fragments which make up Violet Breche are large, in other words, when the lilacs, pinks, and whites, are prominent, it can only be used for monumental architecture, but when the colours are less prominent and equally spread across the whole surface of the marble, it can be used to make fireplaces and luxurious furniture.”
Ormolu – Gilt Bronze (from French ‘or moulu’, signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as ‘gilt bronze’.
The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object.
Our reference: A3490