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Pair of tripod torchères
English (London)
about 1795
Medium/Technique
Gilded and painted wood, painted wood slab tops
Dimensions
H. 104 cm (3 ft. 5 in.); w. 38 cm (1 ft. 3 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Horace Wood Brock
Accession Number2005.1096.1-2
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsFurniture – Tables, stands, screens
DescriptionTripod stand with three carved and gilded upright supports springing from lion paws at each corner of a triangular plinth with concave sides painted to resemble porphyry. The tapered legs are embellished with acanthus carving and terminate in a scroll. The tops of the supports enclose a bowl-shaped vessel whose underside is ebonized and enriched with cast, applied, and gilded leaves. The sides are embellished with a broad classical frieze with guilloche borders and lion's heads in the center of each segment between the legs. A partially gilded, tapered finial with gadrooned and beaded base, fluted sides, and a metal-form lid rises from the center of the plinth.
ProvenanceJuly 3, 2003, anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 142, to Ronald Phillips, London (?). 2005, acquired on the London art market by Horace Wood Brock, New York; December 30, 2005, partial interest given by Horace Wood Brock to the MFA; September 25, 2013, remaining interest given to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 2006)