Pair of Wall Lights

Along with firelight, candles were the only sources of illumination after dark in the 1700s. Wall lights such as these were usually fixed on either side of a mirror so that the reflection multiplied the flames of the candles.

Scholars guess that the renowned ébéniste and bronze caster André-Charles Boulle made these wall lights. In 1725 a book of engravings of Boulle's designs was published, one page of which showed seven different wall lights. Many features of this pair are similar to details in the engraved plate, including the three different drip pans resembling flowers, the tall vine-like middle arm, and the branches of curving acanthus leaves.