Antique French Empire Style Bronze and Onyx Table Lamp, Athénienne with Ram's Head Mounts — France, Early 20th Century

The athénienne — a tripod vessel raised on three legs, derived from the ancient Greek sacrificial stand — entered French decorative arts in the 1770s and never entirely left. Designed by the architect Jean-Henri Eberts and popularised in the neoclassical interiors of the Louis XVI and Empire periods, its form was the period's most direct quotation from antiquity: three legs ending in animal feet, a central body of contrasting stone or metal, and mounts that drew on the full vocabulary of the ancient world. The ram's head, emblem of sacrifice and strength, was one of the athénienne's characteristic ornaments — appearing at the junction of body and legs in exactly the position it occupies here, where the classical goldsmith would have placed it.

This lamp is French, early twentieth century, in the Empire manner, combining an ovoid onyx body — green-grey, veined with amber and rust — with gilt bronze mounts of the highest finish. Three scrolled legs, each headed with a ram's mask at the shoulder, descend from the body to lion-paw feet on a trilobed platform base, the whole construction giving the lamp its characteristic athénienne silhouette: wide at the base, narrow at the waist, expanding again into the stone body. The onyx is the piece's visual centre — note how the stone shifts from grey-green at the top to a warmer amber-rust at the lower half, the natural banding of the mineral that no two examples share, and the detail that makes every onyx lamp a unique object. Above the stone, a chased bronze collar enriched with a running leaf frieze carries the socket. The gilt bronze is warm and even throughout.

Whoever kept this lamp before you preserved both the stone and the bronze in excellent order across more than a century. The onyx is unchipped; the bronze mounts are firm and well fitted; the base sits flat and stable. It arrives fully rewired and ready to use, plug adapted to your country at no charge — ready for a desk, a library console, or a side table that can carry its presence.

It arrives professionally packed and fully insured. All duties and import charges are our responsibility — you pay nothing beyond the listed price. Returns are accepted within 30 days.

DETAILS:
Size: Height 23 cm (9.1 in) to socket · Base span 10 cm (3.9 in)
Material: green-grey onyx body with amber veining; gilt bronze tripod mounts, ram's head shoulders and lion-paw feet; chased bronze collar and socket fitting
Style/Period: French Empire style, early 20th century
Weight: 1.250 kg (2.8 lb)
Sockets: one — fully rewired and ready to use; plug adapted to your country (US/UK/EU) at no extra charge
Lampshades: not included
Shipping: professionally packed, fully insured, worldwide — all import duties paid by us, nothing to settle on delivery
Condition: very good; onyx unchipped and sound; bronze mounts firm and well fitted; base sits flat
Returns: accepted within 30 days

Read our condition standard. Please ask if you need additional photographs or measurements.

Worldwide delivery is included in the price. Every piece is individually packed, tracked and fully insured. No shipping charge is added at checkout. If your destination is not listed, please contact us before ordering.

Maison Jaspers pays US tariffs and import duties. For other destinations, local import taxes and duties may apply and are payable by the recipient. Contact us before ordering if you need destination-specific guidance.

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Delivery information

Notify us within 30 days of delivery if you wish to return a piece. No reason is required. You pay return shipping for a change-of-mind return.

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