A pair of Empire ormolu and patinated bronze four-light candelabra, attributed to Claude Galle circa 1810

The device of three addorsed owls was repeatedly used by Claude Galle.  A pair of candlesticks delivered in 1807 for the 2e salon de l'Impératrice: "une paire (flambeau) en cuivre gaines rondes griffes et hiboux dorés or mat hauteur 29 c" is strongly thought to have come from Galle's atelier.  They relate closely to another pair of similarly decorated candlesticks, known to have been delivered by him in 1804, illustrated, J.P. Samoyault, Pendules et Bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, nos. 156 and 157.  

A comparable pair of candelabra very similar to the offered pair, also attributed to Galle was sold, Christie's, New York, October 26, 2001; a second similar pair was sold Christie's, Amsterdam, September 5, 2006, lot 633.  A very similar candelabrum from the Hôtel de la Monnaie is illustrated, E. Dumonthier, Les Bronzes du Mobilier National: bronzes d'eclairage et de chauffage, Paris, 1910, pl. 19 and another by Biennais is illustrated, D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, Vol. I, Paris, 1975, pp. 117-119.