A pair of ormolu and patinated bronze prancing horse andirons (gilding and patina redone at a later date), the fronts resting on a shield decorated with palms and shells (the shield supports redone), the saddle cloth imitating embroidery and passementerie, resting on a base decorated with a mask of Boreas, foliage, shells and volutes; with irons. Regency period, circa 1720. H : 41 cm, W : 24 cm, D : 16 cm Several pairs of andirons with prancing horses are listed from the 18th century, some of them delivered outside France. In this respect, it is interesting to mention a pair of andirons with the Stroganoff coat of arms (formerly in the Aaron Gallery in Paris), another described in 1769 in the castle of Nymphenburg (Germany) and a third with the coat of arms of Bavaria (the base is slightly different), in patinated and gilt bronze, illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 71. Among the andirons identified today is a pair in gilt bronze recently sold by the Beaussant-Lefèvre auction house in Paris on 19 March 2004, lot 140 (€ 115,000). It is interesting to recall that several mentions of horse andirons are found in the inventory after the death of Jacques Caffiéri (1678-1755) in 1755 (ANMC, XXVII, 277) as well as in that of his wife in 1770. Finally, let us mention the copies from the Bonnemet sale of 1772 (lot 112) and the one from the Gaignat sale of 1769 with a sketch by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin in the margin (lot 194).