A PAIR OF REGENCE ORMOLU CHENETS SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
Each with a spread winged chimera on a shaped scrolling base.
 
Size: 25cm long, 15cm wide, 21.5cm high
 
These impressive chenets are each surmounted by a chimera, a much favoured model in the Régence period, which was for instance widely employed by the maître sculpteur Charles Cressent. Related chimerae appear on a drawing by the ornemaniste Nicolas Pineau, which is now in the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Prüschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol.I, p.66 fig.1.9.19).
Charles Cressent produced chenets of a related design but with lions-carried bases. A pair from the d'Ennery collection is illustrated in A. Pradère, Charles Cressent, Dijon, 2003, p.307 no.276.