Pair Of Andirons With Lying Lions And Dragons Charles Cressent, Around 1725

Pair of andirons with lying lions and dragons . Finely chiseled bronze sculptures, cast in a single piece with inclined and counterposed pedestals. Open in the back. H 38 cm, L 28 cm Charles Cressent, attributed, circa 1725. Chimney sleeves or fire sleeves, in French "chenets", were used to retain firewood in the hearth and to create a barrier which made it safer the presence of fire. The ladies' long dresses, which touched the floor, always presented a fire hazard. André Charles Boulle was the first to design and publish "Grilles pour Chimneys", which featured a fire-gilded bronze on the side of the room, an urn or even vases bearing figures, but were open at the back, from the side of the hearth, to save material. They were screwed together with iron bars which stuck into the fire and limited it. Charles Cressent (1685 - 1768) came from a family of artists and craftsmen. His father was François Cressent, sculptor to the king. Charles Cressent also received training as a sculptor and cabinetmaker, with the famous cabinetmaker and bronze maker André Charles Boulle as his teacher, who ran a workshop under the Grande Galerie du Louvre. Even during his lifetime, his furniture and bronzes went well beyond a utilitarian function; they were considered objects of representation and art. For Charles Cressent, he is obviously the great model, because like Boulle, he cast and finished his bronzes in his own workshop, which on several occasions brought him into conflicts and even trials with the guilds of foundry-engravers and engravers. -gilders. In addition to furniture decorated with impressive bronze fittings, sometimes entirely sculptural, one of his first major commissions was a bronze bust of Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres and son of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans. He also built for him the famous pair of medal cabinets which are currently in the National Library. Cressent's bronze creations are exceptional in every respect, both in their design and in their execution, they are among the most beautiful that could be acquired at this time, as these two refractory bricks demonstrate. In 1750, for financial reasons, Cressent organized an auction of his stock and his collections, for which he wrote the catalog himself. This advertising measure proved to be very effective, as it allowed Cressent to return to the forefront and win new orders. In 1756, before ceasing his activity, he again offered his goods. Subsequently, he devoted himself to building his collections until his death in 1768.