"Flambeau By D.mene, From Trianon And Palais Des Tuileries."
Flambeau by D.Mene, from Trianon and Palais des Tuileries. Interesting torch from the Restoration period, circa 1825, signed by Dominique Mène, and bearing the inventory mark of the Trianons with a T under fleur de Lys (mark affixed under the Restoration) as well as the mark of the Palais des Tuileries with a TU under crown and number 1996 (marks affixed during the reign of Louis Philippe), another inventory number 10089 is also struck on the plinth. Dominique Mène is little known unlike his son Pierre-Jules Mène, a great animal sculptor, Dominique, a copper turner registered with the Reunion of Bronze Manufacturers, settled in 1822 with his family at 12 rue de Vertbois, in the Temple district, he created a workshop there which specialized in chandeliers and the making of torches. Pierre Jules initiated metalwork at a very young age, collaborated in his first years in the family business with his brothers and his father, he left the workshop in 1832 when he married Hortense-Caroline Monnereau. This torch presents an interesting work, far from being common with a rich neoclassical ornamentation, it is constituted as follows: A large base with a frieze of branches of laurel leaves interrupted by rosettes on the exterior border and guilloché work for the rest, the was taken off from the base by a choker ring with a row of pearls presents a pretty guilloché work with large laurel wreaths tied at their base with ribbons, in the middle of mounted pine cones, arrows, stylized foliage and bases. The stem is topped with a vase with a row of rosettes crowned with reserves drawn by foliage framing bunches of grapes alternated with bay leaves. The assembly is disassembled into 5 parts joined by a steel axle threaded at the ends. Collector's item in good condition, having the interest of being signed by its author, of being rare in its decorativeness and also of having the inventories of the Trianon under the Restoration and the Palais des Tuileries under Louis Philippe. Dimensions: Height: 14.6 cm Diameter at the base: 10.7 cm