Napoléon III Gilt-Bronze Three-Light Wall Appliques

Object Description

A Fine Pair of Napoléon III Gilt-Bronze Three-Light Wall Appliques, By Maison Millet.

Each applique is cast as a winged Mermaid canephore figure supporting a palmette cast basket and issuing two acanthus wrapped scrolling candle branches terminating in berried and foliate cast nozzles. The appliques are mounted on circular cast backplates.

The appliques originally en-suite with a chandelier cast with conforming mermaid canephores, signed to the bronze by Maison Millet (Adrian Alan Ref: B72841).

Object History

Established by Théodore Millet in 1853, the Maison Millet operated until 1902 from premises at 11 rue Jacques-Coeur, Paris, before relocating to 23 boulevard Beaumarchais.

Millet produced fine quality meubles de luxe, specialising in meubles et bronzes d’art, genre ancien et moderne, with an accent on the Louis XV and XVI styles. The firm’s work covered a wide range of furniture, including authorised copies of eighteenth-century styles.

Millet won awards in Paris and London including a gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, a Grand Prix in 1900 and three further diplômes d’honneur and four médailles d’or. In 1902 the firm was authorised by the director of the Palace of Versailles to replicate Marie-Antoinette’s celebrated Grand cabinet à bijoux.

Maison Millet was an active client of François Linke.

Object Literature

Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’Art Français, 1850-1900, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 2010.

Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006; pps. 276, 317, 320.

Ledoux – Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 484-486.

Object Details