Getty Museum

Pair of Wall Lights

Date

about 1735

Medium

Gilt bronze

Culture

French

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

Along with firelight, candles were the only sources of illumination after dark in the 1700s. Wall lights such as these were usually fixed on either side of a mirror so that the reflection multiplied the flames of the candles. Scholars know of no other example of these wall lights, which each show a domesticated animal hunting its prey. On one, a dog climbs through the curving branches, stalking a bird that perches above its head. On the other, a cat hunts a squirrel. As bronze workers rarely signed their designs, scholars do not know who made these pieces.

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