An Empire gilt-bronze, patinated bronze and crystal eighteen-light chandelier, circa 1810, attributed to the manufacture of Montcenis (Le Creusot)

A. Laffly, Les grandes heures de la Manufacture de cristaux du Montcenis au Creusot, Le Creusot, 2021, p. 108

Related literature :

D. Ledoux-Lebard, Versailles. Le Petit Trianon. Le mobilier des inventaires de 1807, 1810 et 1839 Paris, 1989, p. 95

P. Arrizoli-Clémentel and J-P. Samoyault, Le mobilier de Versailles, Chefs-d’œuvres du XIXe siècle, Editions Faton, Dijon, 2009, p. 247

M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, L’Heure, Le Feu, La Lumière, Les bronzes du Mobilier national 1800-1870, 2010, p. 210, n°116

Ladouèpe du Fougerais (1766–1821) and the Montcenis crystal factory

The quality of this chandelier and the originality of its design and some of its motifs suggest the involvement of a prominent figure, most likely Benjamin-François Ladouèpe du Fougerais (1766-1821), a French politician and industrialist, deputy for the Vendée region during the Empire and the Restoration, knight and later baron. He is best known in the decorative arts as the owner and director of the Mont-Cenis crystal factory, which supplied prestigious chandeliers and light fixtures to the imperial palaces, notably the Grand and Petit Trianon. His creations reflect the excellence of the crystal work and decorative style of the period.

Among the few examples listed as delivered by Ladouèpe du Fougerais to the Garde-Meuble impérial (Imperial Furniture Repository): two models, one delivered in 1809 for Napoleon's Salon at the Grand Trianon, the other in 1810 for the family salon of the same palace, illustrated in P. Arrizoli-Clémentel and J-P. Samoyault, Le mobilier de Versailles, Chefs-d’œuvres du XIXe siècle, Dijon, 2009, p.247, and in D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, Meubles et objets d’art, RMN, Paris, 1975, p.89; as well as a third chandelier kept at the Mobilier National in Paris (published in M-F. Dupuy-Baylet, L’Heure, Le Feu, La Lumière, Les bronzes du Mobilier national 1800-1870, p.210, catalogue no. 116); finally, a last example was delivered in 1810 for the Petit Trianon, illustrated in D. Ledoux-Lebard, Versailles, Le Petit Trianon, Le mobilier des inventaires de 1807, 1810 et 1839, Paris, 1989, p.95.

In the 1810 inventory of the Petit Trianon in Versailles, the following is described on the first floor, in the apartments of Her Majesty the Empress, in the First Salon, No. 61 (60/51): « 1 lustre à 16 lumières, cristal du Mont-Cenis, monture en cuivre doré, cercle à filets avec frise de laurier. 3794 » ("1 chandelier with 16 lights, Mont-Cenis crystal, gilded copper frame, filigree circle with laurel frieze. 3794"). In the 1839 inventory, it is described on the first floor, in the grand apartments of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans, in the billiard room: 3389 (P.T.51) « 1 lustre monture en bronze doré, à 16 lumières, cercle à jour à feuille de laurier, rosace et 8 flèches, pavillon à feuilles d’eau surmonté de couronnes et palmettes, terminé par une pomme de pin en cristal, garni de cristaux du Mont-Cenis. 350 ». (‘1 chandelier with gilded bronze frame, 16 lights, openwork circle with laurel leaves, rosette and 8 arrows, water leaf canopy topped with crowns and palmettes, finished with a crystal pine cone, decorated with Mont-Cenis crystals. 350’).