Pair of chased and patinated bronze levrettes - Lot 190

Pair of chased and patinated bronze levrettes France, second half of the 18th century H.: 15.5 cm - L.: 35 cm (Two rings missing from the collars) This pair of dogs is clearly related to the two levrettes that adorn the lower part of a famous piece of silverware: Thomas Germain's by Thomas Germain, preserved in Lisbon's Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon (inv. 1827). Undertaken probably in 1729-1731 for unfinished until 1757, it was finished by François-Thomas Germain and by François-Thomas Germain and delivered to the Duke of Aveiro. the Portuguese crown in 1759 (Lisbon, Museum of Ancient Museum of Ancient Art). Only one of the two bronze levrettes is exactly identical to those to those on the main piece. The second is a reverse adaptation of the first, probably in the opposite direction, presumably made to top a pair of andirons andirons or pedestals. This transposition into bronze of a model originally designed for although rare, can be logically explained; the goldsmith's workshops of the goldsmiths' workshops in the Louvre, such as the Germains', were, by royal authorized by royal privilege to produce works in bronze. François-Thomas Germain was able to make such bronzes, at least until until 1765, when he went bankrupt. This reversal of fortune was followed by the and models, many of which dated back to his father. dated back to his father. Some models were acquired by Parisian foundrymen with the aim of exploiting them commercially. An identical pair of ormolu and chenet-mounted levrettes is in the collections of the Musée du Louvre under inventory no. OA 10534. Literature: See Alcouffe, Daniel; Dion, Anne; Mabille, Gérard, Les bronzes d'ameublement du Louvre, Dijon, Faton, 2004, n°56.