Pair Of Louis XV Period Andirons With A Crowned "c".

Rare pair of Louis XV period andirons in chased and gilded bronze decorated with putti seated on rocaille consoles.
Each andiron is hallmarked with a crowned "C".
This particularly prized hallmark was used in France between 1745 and 1749.

An identical pair of andirons kept at the Carnavalet Museum, inventory number MB459-2.

Louis XV period.

Very good condition, original gilding.

Old collection inventory labels: M-0238

Dimensions:
Height 21 cm
Width 25 cm

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An edict of 1745 required bronze makers to stamp their works with a small distinctive letter, a C surmounted by a crown, thus subjecting them to the payment of a tax. This applied to both objects and furniture decorated with it.
This mark, which measures only a few millimeters (from 2.5 to 5 depending on the size of the pieces), has long intrigued specialists.
Is it the signature of the bronze-maker Caffieri, that of the founder Colson, or even the stamp of the cabinetmaker Cressent? It was not until 1924 and Henri Nocq's thesis, Le Poinçon de Paris, that we learned that it was a mark sanctioning a tax paid on bronzes and coppers between 1745 and 1749. Like any tax, it was largely unpopular, and there were countless lawsuits pitting artisans against state agents.
And yet the edict of February 1745 was formal: it applied to "all old and new works of bronze, pure copper, cast iron, mixed copper, forged, ground, beaten, planed, engraved, gilded, silvered, and colored, without exception."
Each craftsman must go to the hallmark office at the "Bourdonnais cul-de-sac" in the Halles district to have the hallmark stamped and pay the fee.
This is an important detail: this was the time of the War of the Austrian Succession, and military needs were pressing.
In February 1749, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed, and several prominent figures noted the "abolition of small new taxes." But in the meantime, the hallmark must appear on all copper metalwork produced or sold during these four years. The text also specifies that it applies to "all work, old or new."
It is therefore possible to find it on pieces made before 1745.
All that is required for this is for the object to be subjected to a new layer of gilding or to be put on the market during these four years.
This is the case for certain pieces of furniture by André-Charles Boulle, from the Louis XIV period, but whose success continued. It is therefore possible to find it on a work prior to 1745 - even if this is rare - while it will be absent from a more recent bronze, unless it is a fake.
Even if we limit ourselves to Louis XV bronzes, it is difficult to count them as the crowned C seems to have invaded furniture bronzes and decorative objects both in Paris and in the provinces during these four years.
We know how many such objects were prized at the time and the success enjoyed by the bronze makers.
The king found there the means to finance his campaigns, the artists a reward for their talent. And if questions remain about the different forms that the hallmark took, its discovery remains a valuable reference for lovers of Louis XV bronzes.
Bibliographic source "French Gilded Bronzes of the 18th Century" Pierre Verlet Picard Editeur - 1987


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