A rare pair of French gilt-bronze-mounted, bronzed and gilt biscuit large Egyptian female figures by Dagoty Empire, circa 1805-1810

each comprised of two sections unified with a gilt-bronze band,  with a gilt falcon headdress surmounted by a lotus crown forming a vessel, with a gilded beaded carcanet around her neck and wearing transparent kalasiris above a long panel with pseudo-hieroglyphs of Egyptian  creatures figures and symbols, holding in one hand a palm frond and in the other a lotus, on a rectangular plinth with stylised Greek key motif on a later ebonised base, now mounted as lamps; some restorations and  decoration refreshed; 

Régine de Plinval de Guillebon ` Dagoty à Paris, La Manufacture de porcelain de l'impératrice, Paris, 2006, p. 137-138, illustrated p. 138, cat. no. 124.

Colour overall slightly darker and more attractive than in the catalogue photograph. Minor rubbing here and there to gilding. The lamp fittings have been removed just leaving a screw protruding from the top. In very good restored condition. A very rare lot. Highly recommended.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Jean-Michel Humbert, L'Égyptomanie dans l'art occidental, Paris, 1989, p. 177, illustrates a Sèvres encrier in painted biscuit porcelain imitating bronze and gilt-bronze, circa 1802 (Musée national de Céramique , Sèvres).
Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol I, p 336, fig. 5.3.4.

There is a watercolour design by Charles Percier (1764-1838), the celebrated French architect to Napoleon, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, (ref. RF30630), circa 1800, upon which these figures are almost certainly based, illustrated by Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, fig. 5.3.4. reproduced here in fig.1. Compare also the console table delivered by Thomire and Duterme in 1812 to the Garde Meuble, again with similar figures and now in the Grand Trianon, see Denise Ledoux-Lebard, Inventaire Général du Musée National de Versailles et des Trianons, Vol. I, Le Grand Trianon, Meubles et Objets d' Art, pp. 20 and 21.

It is more than likely that this model was produced in porcelain as the bases for candelabra of which there are many examples in gilt-bronze and bronze. There are recorded in the list of statues, clocks and groups in biscuit produced by the Parisian manufacturer Dihl and Guérhard and published by Régine de Plinval de Guillebon `La Manufacture de porcelain de Guérhard and Dihl, by Duc d'Angouleme'; The French Porcelain Society, IV, 1988, p.18: `candélabras à figures egyptiennes bronzées et portant des girandoles à quatre lumières en cuivre doré'. However these pairs are attributed to Dagoty on the basis of the lotus leaf motifs and the falcon headdress and are related to the Thurn and Taxis service which is marked by the Dagoty factory. The Receuil factice des dessins de la manufacture de Dagoty et Honoré, pl. 20, reproduced a model of an écritoire supported by Egyptian masks.

These female figures could equally have formed supports for a console as in the aforementioned example. There is recorded under the name Caron and Lefèbre, at the International Exhibition of 1806; a `trèpied à trois caryatides de 3 pouces de haut.' illustrated by Régine de Plinval de Guillebon in Faïence et Porcelaine de Paris XVIIIe-XIXe siècle, Dijon, 1995, p. 315, pl. 300. 

A similar pair of figures was sold as lot 247, Sotheby's, New York, 18th May 1996. The differences in these  three related pairs are the variations in the hieroglyphs.