Pair Of Andirons With Lions And Dragons, Charles Cressent

Pair of andirons with reclining lions and dragons. Fire-gilt bronze. Finely chiseled bronze sculptures, cast in one piece with the sloping, counter-mounted pedestals. Open at the back. H 37, W 31.5 resp. H 36.5, W 30 cm. Paris, Charles Cressent, attributed, circa 1725-35. Fireplace mantels or fire mantels, in French "chenets," were used to hold firewood in the hearth and create a barrier that made the presence of the fire safer. Ladies' long dresses, which touched the floor, always presented a fire hazard. André Charles Boulle was the first to design and publish "Grilles pour Cheminées," which featured fire-gilt bronze on the room side, an urn, or even vases bearing figures, but were open at the back, on the hearth side, to save material. They were screwed together with iron bars that penetrated the fire and limited it. Charles Cressent (1685–1768) came from a family of artists and craftsmen. His father was François Cressent, sculptor to the king. Charles Cressent also trained as a sculptor and cabinetmaker, taught by the renowned cabinetmaker and bronze-caster André Charles Boulle, who ran a workshop beneath the Grande Galerie in the Louvre. Even during his lifetime, his furniture and bronzes went far beyond a utilitarian function; they were considered objects of representation and art. For Charles Cressent, he is obviously the great model, because like Boulle, he had his bronzes cast and finished in his own workshop, which repeatedly led to conflicts and even lawsuits with the guilds of founder-chasers and chaser-gilders. In addition to furniture adorned with impressive bronze fittings, sometimes entirely sculptural, one of his first major commissions was a bronze bust of Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres and son of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans. He also built for him the famous pair of medal cabinets currently housed in the Bibliothèque nationale. Cressent's bronze creations are exceptional in every respect, both in design and execution; they are among the finest that could be acquired at this time, as these two firebricks attest.