Getty Museum
Pair of Wall Lights
Creator
André-Charles BoulleFrench Artist · 1642–1732
All works by this person →Christened by his contemporaries as "the most skillful artisan in Paris," André-Charles Boulle's name is synonymous with the practice of veneering furniture with marquetry of tortoiseshell, pewter, and brass. Although he did not invent the technique, Boulle was its greatest practitioner and lent his name to its common name: boulle work. Boulle also specialized in floral marquetry in both stained a
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1715–1720
- Medium
- Gilt bronze
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Decorative Arts
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 77f704ee-d797-4ffc-8488-db29b10f4623
From the Getty Museum record
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 guess that the renowned *ébéniste* and bronze caster André-Charles Boulle made these wall lights. In 1725 a book of engravings of Boulle's designs was published, one page of which showed seven different wall lights. Many features of this pair are similar to details in the engraved plate, including the three different drip pans resembling flowers, the tall vine-like middle arm, and the branches of curving acanthus leaves.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.