Wall Light

François-Thomas Germain (French, 1726–1791)

Jean-Claude Duplessis (French, 1699–1774)

1750-1760

Medium/TechniqueGilt bronze, iron

DimensionsOverall: 88.9 x 61 x 30.5 cm (35 x 24 x 12 in.)

Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds donated anonymously and the John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund, Mary S. and Edward J. Holmes Fund, Frank B. Bemis Fund, Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, Edwin E. Jack Fund, Elizabeth M. and John F. Paramino Fund in memory of John F. Paramino, Boston Sculptor, Harriet Otis Cruft Fund, Frederick Brown Fund, Seth K. Sweetser Fund, Helen B. Sweeney Fund, Susan Cornelia Warren Fund, Samuel Putnam Avery Fund, Jane Marsland and Judith A. Marsland Fund, Alice M. Bartlett Fund, and Mary E. Moore Gift

Accession number2017.83.1

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsTools and equipment

Collections

Europe

ProvenanceArchduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria (b. 1883 – d. 1963), Vienna [see note]; upon her death, passed by descent within her family; 2005, sold by her estate to an unknown buyer. By 2010, Angela Gräfin von Wallwitz, Munich; 2017, sold by Angela von Wallwitz to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 1, 2017)

NOTE: The wall lights are from the personal collection of Elisabeth Marie of Austria. Because of their size and appearance, it has been speculated that they have a royal provenance, and it is very likely that they descended to her from a family member. Whether they had belonged to her grandmother, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (b. 1837 - d. 1898), or came from the family of her first husband, Prince Otto Weriand von Windisch-Graetz (b. 1873 – d. 1952), from whom she separated in 1918, is not known.