The swan was the Empire style's most graceful servant. Beloved of Joséphine and stamped across the era's furniture, silks, and bronzes, the bird lent its curved neck to anything that needed to carry weight beautifully — chair arms, basin taps, and above all the arms of lights, where the swan's neck arcs from the wall as if the candle floated on it. Sconces of this design lit French rooms in symmetrical flocks, and a full suite of four is how they were meant to be seen: two pairs facing across a room.
This is a suite of four, French, from the first third of the twentieth century, in chased metal finished in two patinas: each sconce a drop of sculpted palm fronds in dark green patina against the wall, from which a gilt swan stretches forward, neck curved, to carry the leaf-cast drip pan, acorn drop, and candle sleeve. Look at the deliberate division of the two finishes — the green patina recedes into the wall's shadow while the gilt swan and pan catch the room's light, a two-tone strategy Empire bronziers used to make a shallow object read deep. The suite has been cleaned, its gilding still strong, and the electrification is newly redone; the four arrive prepared for wall installation, in working order.
The gilding is well present across all four, the green patina even, with only light age-consistent wear, as the photographs show. Whoever hung this flock before you kept all four together — no small feat across a century. They are ready for a dining room's corners, facing pairs in a hallway, or two bedrooms sharing the set.
The suite is four matching sconces in chased two-patina metal, re-electrified and in working order. It arrives professionally packed and fully insured — we handle the paperwork and worldwide shipping, with all import duties paid by us, so there is nothing to settle on delivery. Returns are accepted within 30 days.
DETAILS:
Each sconce: Height 24 cm (9.4 in) · Width 6 cm (2.4 in) · Depth 13 cm (5.1 in) — each roughly the height of a hardcover book
Chased metal, two patinas: green-patinated palm backplate, gilt swan arm and drip pan; wax-drip candle sleeves
Sold as a set of four · One light each
Electrical: electrification newly redone; wall-mounted, for fixed installation; delivered in working order
Condition: good condition; gilding well present, even green patina, light age-consistent wear
Sold without a shade — leaving you free to choose one that suits your room.
