A Pair of Chanteloup Lamp Bases
£750
SOLD
A pair of hand caved and painted wooden lamp bases in the classical taste, the column stems with fern decoration and set upon plinth bases.
This lamp base takes its name from the Chateau de Chanteloup near Amboise in The Touraine, France. The original chateau was home to Claude Antoine Gabriel, Duc de Choiseul-Stainville – a supporter of Louis XVI who helped the Royal family in their attempt to escape from Paris on 20 June 1791.
De Choiseul was arrested with the King, and imprisoned and later set free in May 1792. He fled France that October, to fight against the French Republic in the émigré army of Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé. He was captured in 1795, confined at Dunkirk where he again escaped, set sail for India, was shipwrecked on the coast of France, and then condemned to death upon capture by the decree of the French Directory. Nevertheless, he was fortunate enough to escape a third time. Under Napoleon Bonaparte he returned to France in 1801 and was ultimately reinstated in the House of Peers under Louis XVIII. He died a free man in 1830.
While the original Chateau de Chanteloup no longer survives, perhaps the most magical folly in the region is extant – The chinoiserie stone pagoda which stands an incredible 107 feet tall (44 metres).
These lamp bases echo the traditions of this noble folly de grandeur.
