Antique Bronze Bouillotte Lamp, Louis XV Style — French, 19th Century

The bouillotte lamp takes its name from a French card game played late into the evening, when a table needed steady light that wouldn't dazzle the players seated around it. Its solution was elegant: a low cluster of candle arms topped with a shade that could be raised or lowered as the night wore on. By the nineteenth century, the form had moved well beyond the card table, becoming a fixture of studies, libraries, and drawing rooms furnished in the ornate spirit of the Louis XV period.

This lamp, French, nineteenth century, follows that Louis XV vocabulary in its curves and scrollwork. Two candle-form lights rise from curling bronze arms, themselves springing from a swirling, sculptural stem set on a fluted hexagonal base. Note how the scrollwork of the arms flows in continuous S-curves rather than being built from separate straight sections joined at angles — the kind of fluid, one-piece modeling that distinguishes genuine period casting from a later simplified copy. A dark, gold-leaf-bordered tole shade tops the piece, finished with a scrolled key-form finial.

Whoever kept this lamp lit before you kept it well. The bronze shows honest wear consistent with its age, with the decorative scrollwork and casting fully intact. It is ready for a desk, library table, or console.

It arrives professionally packed and fully insured — we handle the paperwork and worldwide shipping, with your choice of US, UK, or EU plug fitted at no extra charge. Returns are accepted within 30 days.

DETAILS:
Height: 69 cm (27.2 in)
Materials: bronze, tole (metal) shade
Electrical: US, UK, or EU plug fitted at no extra charge
Condition: good antique condition; honest wear consistent with age; scrollwork and casting intact

Condition details available on request.

Electrical details available on request.

Shipping details available on request.

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Provenance details available on request.