Table Centerpiece

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Table Centerpiece

ArtistAfter a design by Nicolas Delaunay (French, ca. 1655-1727)

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1710

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 24 × 20 1/4 × 20 1/4 in. (61 × 51.4 × 51.4 cm)

Mediumgilded bronze with marble veneer

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Alexander

Object number

1971.178A-I

Not on View

Label TextThis complex, gilded bronze centerpiece was probably made about 1710 under the supervision of the French royal goldsmith Nicolas Delaunay. The central figure, Cupid riding a dolphin, tops an eight-branched candelabrum supported by four busts of nymphs and satyrs on top of the feet of mythical animals. The candelabrum rests on a second, smaller platform with casters at each corner designed to hold spices, salt, and sugar. When the centerpiece was used in the daytime, the candle cups could be replaced with decorative finials.Published References"Public Art Museum Notes", Art Journall, vol. 32, no. 3, Spring 1973, p. 334.

"La Chronique des Arts", Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 81, no. 1249, repr. p. 128.

Hutton, William, "A Louis XIV table centerpiece", Toledo Museum News, vol. 17, no. 1, 1974, pp. 15-18, repr. fig. 8, p. 16 and on cover (col.).

Ottomeyer, Hans, Vergoldete Bronzen: die Bronzearberten des Spatbarock und Klassizismus, Munich, 1986, p. 57, repr.

Verlet, Pierre, Les Bronzes dores Francais du XVIII siecle, Paris, 1987, p. 140, fig. 181.

Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles et les tables royales en Europe: XVIIéme - XIXéme siécles, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1993, no. 34, p. 265.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 95, repr. (col.)

Hermanos, Susan S., The Elegant Epergne: From the Bunny and Charles Koppelman Collection, New York, 1995, p. 26, 27, 36, no. 11, repr.

Visages du Grande Siecle: le Portrait Francais sous le Regne de Louis XIV, Paris, 1997, p. 249, repr.

Micio, Paul, "Early French Surtouts: Unpublished Drawings and Documents", Silver Studies, no. 19, 2005, p. 92-94, fig. 12, p. 93.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 188, repr. (col.).

Micio, Paul, Les Collections de Monsieur frere de Louis XIV: Orfevrerie et objets d'art des Orleans sous l'Ancien Regime, Paris, Somogy editions d'art, 2014, p. 250, repr. (col.) p. 251, fig. 194.

Quenétain, Christophe Huchete de, Nicolas Besnier (1686-1754): architecte, orfèvre du roi, directeur de la Manufacture royale de tapisseries de Beauvais, et échevin de la Ville de Paris>/i>, Sorbonne Université, Theses, 2017, electronic file, p. 256, repr. (col.) p. 255, fig. 193.

Exhibition HistoryVersaiiles, France, Musee National des Chateaux des Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles et les tables royales en Europe, 1993-94.