Pair of candlesticks. Bronze (blued and gilt). France, circa 1800.
Pair of candlesticks. Bronze (blued and gilt). France, circa 1800.
A pair of six-light bronze candelabras, a type often called "tripod" due to their shape. A base with three projections, placed on inverted truncated pyramidal architectural elements and with reliefs and medallions on the exterior faces, serves as the base for three seated sphinxes made of burnished bronze with gilded tails. From their backs, three upward-facing rods emerge, each ending in children's heads with butterfly wings. These sphinxes are decorated with raised candelabras secured by an openwork band (note the spiraling bouquet inside). From the heads, a circular shape with projections emerges, on which the actual shaft of the candelabra rests, topped with a pomegranate on a floral arrangement. The arms of the candelabras, ending in lighters, feature delicate scrolls and rooster heads. Note the varying textures of the material and the great amount of detail present in the architectural, vegetal, and figurative elements. The design of these vase shaped candlesticks was enormously successful, and numerous variants with slight modifications were subsequently created, including sphinxes and goat heads. On April 16, 1787, François Rémond (c. 1747–1812) supplied Daguerre with eight “girandoles en trepied” (as they were often known in literature), identified by some experts as the eight candlesticks of this model purchased from Daguerre by George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV, for Carlton House. The largest, ten-light model with a vase and rooster heads, was created around 1786. A pair of this model is recorded in the 1836 Inventory of the Legendre de Lucay collection, and another pair is known to have been commissioned for Marie Antoinette's Salon des Nobles at Versailles. Compare this example with the griffin chandelier...
Category
19th Century European Antique Other Decorative Objects
