Pair of Louis XVI Style Dore Bronze Serpent and Lyre Three Light Sconces

France, late 19th century, in the form of a lyre suspended from a serpent, issuing three unfurling branch arms terminating in a single scone with fruiting bobeche, festooned with Bacchic mask, garland, and instrument pendant, impressed stamp to the verso "L.C." along with various numbered marks.

29 x 14 1/2 x 7 in.

The Estate of the late Dr. William "Bill" Webb Johnston and Mr. Charles "Chuck" Raymond West, Hillsborough, NC

Based on a period model from the 1780s, and published in Ottomeyer/Pröschel's Vergoldete Bronzen. Munich 1986, vol. I, p. 242, fig. 4.5.8.
Exceptional examples of bras de lumière can be seen in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum: Object Number: 52.206.7, .8, and additionally 1973.315.6–.9.

Some rubbing to gilt, with areas of later gilt likely; one sconce with repaired area beneath one capital; the other sconce with repair beneath the lower Bacchic mask.