Pair of French Bronze Wall Sconces, circa 1920

Wall sconces have served as the principal source of directed interior lighting in the French home from the age of candles through the advent of electricity, and France has produced some of the most distinguished examples of the form in the Western decorative tradition. Whether in gilded bronze for Versailles or in chased silver for the Parisian hôtel particulier, the wall sconce has always functioned as both a light source and an architectural element, its arms and backplate composing a miniature sculpture that animates the wall surface on which it rests.

This pair, in bronze and dating from around 1920, belongs to the transitional moment between the Belle Époque and the Art Déco era — a period of extraordinary fertility in French decorative arts, when the sinuous lines of Art Nouveau were yielding to the more restrained and geometric vocabularies of the new decade. Bronze, with its warm, subtly antique tonality and its capacity for fine casting and chasing, was the preferred material of the finest French lighting workshops of the time — houses such as Baguès, Genet & Michon, and the ateliers of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine that supplied the great Paris interiors.

Sold as a pair, the sconces are consistent in form and patina. At 26 cm wide and 30.5 cm tall, they are well-proportioned for a drawing room, bedroom, or corridor, providing warm directed light while enriching the wall with the depth and warmth of patinated bronze. They may be rewired to current standards as required.

In very good condition consistent with their age. A distinguished pair of French bronze wall lights from the dawn of the Art Déco period.