Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: 18 in high x 15.5 in wide x 7 in deep
This pair of wall sconces by Charles Piguet possess a brooding allure: shaped in an elegant crisscross pattern, they feature a two-tone finish and arms that gently curve out, as in an embrace, from the wall on each side. With conical white shades trimmed in black.
Built in 1855, the Grand Hôtel de Lyon, also called Hôtel des Voyageurs, was one of the main luxury
hotels in Lyon. From 1882 it hosted the Cercle du Commerce, a club for the Lyonesse bourgeoisie mainly composed of doctors, merchants and silk traders, occupying rooms on the ground and the first floors.
The Banque de France purchased the building in 1919, settling its activities in the building in 1948 and continuing to host the Cercle du Commerce. It is likely that the installment of these sconces by Maison Charles Piguet, famous iron maker of Lyon, in the dining room, living room, and game rooms comes from this period of great interior rearrangement.
