Research
Watercolor and ink on sectional paper.
Provenance:
Galerie Monluc, Paris Early 1990s
This studied watercolor represents a complete, full-size chandelier made as a presentation drawing for potential customers. The chandelier it depicts was executed by the Paris bronzier François Rémond, after drawings by Francois-Joseph Bélanger, Charles Percier and Pierre Léonard Fontaine, and belongs to a small and rare group of such life-size drawings depicting furnishings as finished products.
The chandelier reproduced here measures approximately 7 ½ French feet2 (243 cm) high and 14 French feet in circumference (453 cm), with a diameter of approximately 144 cm. Archival documents indicate that it was part of a pair, each with forty-eight lights, executed circa 1800. Two descriptions of these chandeliers are known; one printed in 1819 indicates that the chandeliers were made “from the drawings of MM. Bellanger [al. François-Joseph Bélanger], Percier and Fontaine.” The second document is a manuscript dating to 1828 and describes the design as deriving “from the drawings of Messieurs Percier and Fontaine, architects of the Louvre and the Tuilleries.”
Full research report available on request.