AFTER THE MODEL BY PHILIPPE CAFFIERI, MID-19TH CENTURY

This pair of chenets is after a model by Philippe Caffieri (1714-1774), son of sculptor and bronzier Jacques Caffieri (1678-1755). The putto seated on globes, representing literature and sculpture, are identified by their respective instruments which signify the attributes of enlightenment and education. Philippe Caffieri often repurposed his father's models, including the allegorical putto seen on this pair of andirons. It is possible the andirons were designed as part of a series created by Caffieri around 1765-70 which all use the same composition, namely a projecting plinth topped with a figure on one side and an ornament of the other (see S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 457-461). The design for the present lot is similar to a pair of andirons delivered to the Duchess of Bourbon for her bedroom at the Palais Bourbon in 1771-72 (illustrated in ibid., fig.459). A nearly identical pair by Caffieri is in the Wallace Collection (inv. nos. F279 and F280).