Pair of Louis XVI Style Three-Arm Bronze Wall Lights by Maison Lucien Gau, Circa 1950

A fine pair of wall lights cast and chased in patinated bronze, designed in the Louis XVI style with three elegantly curved arms issuing from a central backplate of classical architectural form. Each arm, gracefully scrolled and enriched with acanthus leaves and fluted details, terminates in a candle nozzle set within a circular bobèche. The backplates display the refined chasing and crisp definition that are the hallmark of the finest French bronze foundries, their golden patina glowing warmly against any wall surface. The pair presents a striking visual harmony characteristic of the most accomplished Parisian bronziers.

These appliques were produced by Maison Lucien Gau, the celebrated Parisian bronze house founded in the nineteenth century and renowned throughout the twentieth century as one of the premier ateliers for period-style bronze lighting and decorative metalwork. Working from the Rue du Temple in Paris, Lucien Gau maintained the highest standards of traditional French bronze casting and chasing, producing lighting of museum quality that graced the most distinguished private residences, embassies, and historic interiors of France and abroad. Their pieces, always executed with fidelity to historical models and the technical perfection that distinguished the great Parisian fonderies, remain among the most sought-after signed bronzes in the market for period-style lighting.

A pair of signed Louis XVI bronze wall lights of this quality is a centrepiece acquisition for the lighting collector and decorator alike. Mounted in a salon with painted boiseries, in a bedroom hung with toile de Jouy, or in any interior seeking the refined atmosphere of the French classical tradition, they create an atmosphere of golden, warm luminosity of unsurpassed elegance. A truly distinguished pair, worthy of the most demanding and discerning collections.