Pair Of "cat And Dog" Bronze Andirons With Double Patina, 19th

Pair of Cat and Dog
Bronze andirons with double patina, gilded and brown
19th Century
Circa 1880

Pair of andirons representing a cat and a dog in bronze with brown patina on their gilded bronze bases, decorated with a drapery falling on the apron carved with laurel branches, placed on four twisted fluted legs.
This pair of andirons is one of the versions following the model executed for the Prince of Condé and delivered in 1773 for the sum of 1120 pounds. Several versions of bases are known: a base on four high fluted feet, a base decorated with a drapery falling on the apron carved with laurel branches, placed on four twisted fluted feet, a base carved with posts finished with square feet decorated with macaroons and acanthus leaves mounted on fluted feet of square section. The Caffiéri, Philippe and Jacques are an important dynasty of sculptors and bronze workers, of Italian origin, emigrated from Naples to Paris where they worked mainly as “sculptors to the king” on behalf of the French crown, at the request of Cardinal Mazarin. Admitted to the Academy of Saint-Luc as a sculptor, Jacques Caffieri was appointed master foundry-carver around 1715, upon his death in 1755, Philippe Caffiéri, worked almost exclusively for the royal court and created numerous pieces of furniture for the castles of Versailles, Fontainebleau, Choisy, Marly, Muette and Compiègne. An identical pair is reproduced in: H. Ottomeyer / P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen - The bronze work of late baroque and classicism, Munich 1986, vol I, page 201 Fig. 3. 14. 12.