Pair of Empire Bronze & Mercury-Gilt Column Lamps

French, Empire / Charles X period, circa 1825

A handsome pair of table lamps, each modelled as a fluted column in dark patinated bronze rising to a finely cast Corinthian capital in burnished mercury gilding. The columns sit on knopped gilt-bronze socles with rope-twist and guilloche banding, the contrast of the matte black patination against the warm ormolu giving the pair real presence.

Each column is raised on a stepped square plinth, the four faces applied with crisply cast gilt-bronze relief panels of winged classical genii emblematic of the Seasons — figures bearing sheaves of corn, flower garlands and cornucopiae of fruit — within laurel- and acanthus-cast borders. The whole on a moulded black/brown plinth base.

The quality of the casting and chasing throughout, together with the use of true mercury gilding, marks these out as a superior pair of the period. Later adapted for electricity and in full working order.