Saint-Sulpice, l'écrin d'un collectionneur

A pair of three-light gilt-bronze wall lights, probably Italy, Turin, circa 1740, attributed to François Ladatte

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 EUR

Lot Details

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Description

decorated with foliages; (fitted for electricity)

(2)

Haut. 64 cm, larg. 48 cm;

Height. 25 ¼ in, width. 18 ¾ in

Late collection Jean Pétin, Rue de Varenne, Paris

J. Wilhelm, C. Frégnac, Belles demeures de France, 16e - 19e siècle, Paris, 1977, p. 99 (ill.)

Related literature:

V. Viale, Exhibition catalog, Mostra del Barocco Piemontese, Turin, 1963.

A. Baudi di Vesme, Schede Vesme: L'arte in Piemonte dal. XVI al XVIII secolo, vol. 2, Turin, 1966, p. 598-599.

M. Tavella, Due coppie di appliques in bronzo dorato di Francesco Ladatte, in Antologia di Bella Arti, edited by Alvar Gonzales-Palacios, Studi sul Settecento III, Turin, 2003, p.53.

The work of Ladatte is extremely rare, and most of his known works today are preserved in the Palazzo Reale in Turin. Originating from Piedmont, this sculptor created a small number of decorative art pieces and gilt bronze mounts, as well as large statues and reliefs. Born in Turin in 1706, he moved to Paris as a child in 1718 to train under the patronage of Prince Victor-Amédée I of Savoy (1690-1741), Prince of Carignan. In 1728, he won the second prize in sculpture from the Academy with a group titled "Joram and Naaman," followed by the first prize and the Rome Prize in 1729 with "Joaquin, King of Judea." In 1732, he returned to Turin where he worked for the court. Notably, he modeled, in the spirit of Cressent, ornamental bronzes intended particularly for the decoration of furniture by Pietro Piffetti (1701-1777). Ladatte returned to Paris from 1736 to 1743, where he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1736 with a now-lost group illustrating "Renaud and Armide." He was named an academician in 1741 upon presenting a marble statuette of Judith, now housed in the Louvre Museum, and became an adjunct professor in 1743. He regularly exhibited at the Louvre salons from 1737 to 1743. Among his most notable works from this Parisian period are the statue of Louis XV at the Rouen stock exchange, the decoration of the altar of the Holy Milk Chapel in Reims Cathedral, a Virgin and Child, and a Saint Genevieve in the Saint-Louis-en-l'Île Church in Paris, as well as the bas-relief of the Martyrdom of Saint Philip adorning one of the side altars of the chapel at the Palace of Versailles. Close to the painter Charles-André Van Loo (1705 – Paris, 1765), the latter executed his portrait around 1744.

Ladatte did not return to Turin until 1774, where he was appointed sculptor to King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy in 1775 with an annual salary of nearly 800 livres. During this period, he created candelabra and girandoles in the French Rococo style he had learned during his training in Paris, adding the exuberance of the Piedmontese style inspired by the work of Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736). From 1747 to 1750, he delivered candelabra and silver platters for the superb Stupinigi hunting lodge, and notably, the famous stag that crowns the main roof. Appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture of Turin in 1778, he passed away in the same city on January 18, 1787, at the age of 80. Even as classicism reached its peak in France, he remained faithful to his brilliantly virtuosic Rococo style.

Our wall-lights share several common features with known models by Ladatte:

The treatment of the foliage on the sockets and basins resembles a pair of wall-lights from the Louvre Museum and illustrated in M. Tavella, op. cit., p. 56-57. The faces of the two figures are reminiscent of another pair of wall-lights sold by Sotheby's, B.B.S. A Tribute, on June 30, 2016, lot 92. The full, rounded casting is also typical of his work, as seen in a pair of wall-lights preserved at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan, for example.

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