Pair of Antique French Five-Arm Bronze Wall Sconces, Lion Mask Empire Style — France, Early 20th Century

The Empire sconce was Napoleon's lighting — designed for rooms that needed to declare something. Where Louis XVI had offered delicacy, the Empire style that followed answered with weight, symmetry, and military ornament: laurel wreaths, arrows, acanthus, and the lion, emblem of strength and vigilance. The five-arm sconce in particular was reserved for the grandest walls — ballrooms, dining rooms, the antechambers of people who understood that light, distributed across five flames, does something to a room that two flames simply cannot.

This pair is French, Empire-Restauration style, early twentieth century, cast in matte gilt bronze with a depth of ornament that repays close attention. Each sconce is built around a pierced, tapering backplate chased with acanthus scrolls and centred on a portrait medallion, rising to an openwork foliate crest at the top — the vertical spine from which everything else grows. At the centre, a lion-mask mount holds the five scrolling arms in its jaws, each arm terminating in a beaded bobèche and turned socket column. Note the arrows bound into the arm joints at either side — a motif lifted directly from the Napoleonic vocabulary of the original Empire period, here rendered with the precision of a foundry that knew its sources. The matte gilt finish gives the bronze a quieter authority than a high polish would: these are pieces that fill a wall without competing with it.

Whoever lit their rooms with these before you kept them in exemplary order. Both sconces are sound, well matched, and in full working condition. They arrive fully rewired and ready to hang— a pair scaled for a dining room, a grand hallway, or either side of a large mirror.

They arrive 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: each — Height 40 cm (15.7 in) · Depth 25 cm (9.8 in) ·
Material: matte gilt bronze
Style/Period: French Empire-Restauration style, early 20th century
Lampshade: sold without a shade — leaving you free to choose one that suits your room
Shipping: professionally packed, fully insured, worldwide — all import duties paid by us, nothing to settle on delivery
Condition: very good; matte gilt bronze sound and well matched across the pair; full working order
Returns: accepted within 30 days

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

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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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