Style Other / Ref.14625

Four cast iron lamp posts of the Val d'Osne with four lights

Outdoor lamp in cast iron with four arms of light and five lights. It is composed of a top globe, connected to a fluted shaft, encircled by a ring from which four arms of light, decorated with foliage and each ending with a globe, start. In its middle part, it consists of a pedestal vase, flanked by two rings, decorated in its central part with shells and the lower register with gadroons. The whole rests on a large carinated base and a pedestal, whose four sides are decorated in its upper part with lion's heads, a ring in their mouth and a garland of flowers passing between each of these rings. In its lower part, leaves marry the angles and lion paws resting on a base form the foot of the lamp post.

Created in 1835 by J. P. V. André, the Val d'Osne foundry acquired a strong reputation during the 19th century, participating in the great universal exhibitions, including that of London in 1857. Ten years later, in 1867, it was bought by Barbezat et Cie. It offers its customers a very diverse repertoire of cast iron products for a wide variety of locations (from garden ornaments to church decorations) including some public places. The museum of Saint-Dizier, recently acquired at auction a rare complete catalog, containing all the models published by the foundry.

The model we present here is attested identically in the Catalogue of the foundry, Val d'Osne 2, published in 1881, pl. 378, in the series "candelabra". It is a model with a rich decoration, which would have been placed on a balustrade or a high base, in cast iron or stone. Its author is unfortunately not known, but this foundry collaborated with important artists, the most famous of which are Mathurin Moreau and Carrier-Belleuse. This foundry received many public orders, in particular to make ornaments such as some lamp posts of the city of Bordeaux.