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Pair of brackets
Unknown - Enlarge image
Pair of brackets
- Place of origin:
France (made)
- Date:
ca. 1700 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved and gilded limewood
- Museum number:
654&A-1904
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This pair of identical brackets date from the reign of Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 until 1715. Brackets like these could have been used to support a shelf or to add emphasis to certain architectural elements of an interior, a doorway for example. The brackets are made of limewood, which is particularly suited to carving as it is easy to work and gives a crisp finish, allowing greater detail.
The complex combination of motifs - a winged female, scrolls, a lattice ornamented with flowers, beads, husks and acanthus leaves - creates a sophisticated whole, heightened by the gilding. Lavish, multi-layered decoration of this kind was typical of French interiors of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
