A pair of Régence ormolu four-light candelabra circa 1730, attributed to the workshop of Boulle fils

each with a central acanthus-cast nozzle and drip-pan supported by a concave-sided triangular platform decorated with masks and issuing three scrolling arms terminating in ram's heads surmounted by gadrooned drip pans and acanthus-cast baluster nozzles, the shaft with a twisted and fluted urn raised on a fluted baluster-form support cast with acanthus, raised upon a concave-sided triangular base fitted with three recumbent sphinxes linked by lambrequins, supported by tapered and fluted feet.

Ducs d'Arenberg, Villa Encar, Beaulieu
Maurice Segoura, 1990

Ormolu generally richer in real life than in catalogue illustration. Minor scattered rubbing at extremitites; not extensive. Very minor traces of oxidation, surface dirt and sports of verdigris. One candelabrum with the shaft which screws into the base rethreaded.Same with small, approximately 5mm by 5mm, hole to neck of one nozzle. In good overall condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This model of candelabra (girandoles à sphinx et têtes de beliers) is firmly attributed to André-Charles Boulle by Jean Nérée Ronfort; see André-Charles Boulle: die Bronzearbeiten und seine Werkstatt im Louvre; Ottomeyer, Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. II, pp. 459-520, made after a design by Jean Bérain. Ronfort states that two versions are known with either four or five candle branches.

It would appear that the prototype for this model dates from the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV.  The silversmith Vautour delivered on April 15, 1669 twelve silver candelabra for the Garde Meuble de la Couronne described as "trois à pied en triangle orne de trois sphinges à queue de poisson.  La tige a une figure ailée."

Other eighteenth-century references have been recorded, the earliest in 1724 from the inventory of the wife of the merchant T.J. Hébert: Une paire de girandoles à sphinx à trois branches et une bobèche au dessus chacune de bronze doré d'or moulu etc... 350 l.

In 1736, from the inventory of the Duc d'Antin: Deux girandoles à quatre bobèches chacune garnie de sphinx sur leur pied en triangle de cuivre doré d'or moulu .. 500 livres.

In 1760 "six grands chandeliers de forme triangulaire à quatre bobeches de cuivre doré d'or molu à figures de sirenes servant de pied et figures de beliers portant les bobeches. 600" are listed in the dining room of the fermier-général Bouret de Villaumont.  Six others, placed on giltwood pedestals, are also described in the house of the fermier-général Marin de la Haye in 1753.

A later eighteenth-century reference links the name of André-Charles Boulle as author of these girandoles: in 1776, in the collection of Blondel de Gagny in the Garden Pavilion at the Château de Garges: quatre girandoles de Boulle à quatre lumières et sphinx de bronze doré d'or moulu ...220 livres.

Four others described as "par Boulle" were in the Segur de Clesne sale in 1793.  A further two were sold in the 1788 Richelieu sale and the 1789 Coclers sale.  In the latter sale, the pair described as "genre de Boulle" may also be the pair struck with the "c" couronné formerly in the van Doorn Collection.

More recently, the following girandoles are recorded: Collection of Baroness Cassel van Doorn, Paris, March 9, 1954, lot 58, (stamped with the Crowned C); Christie's London, March 17, 1960, lot 41; Sotheby's London, November 12, 1965, lot 6 (five branches). A pair is conserved at Warwick Castle in England, and another pair is at Waddesdon Manor, illustrated, Geoffrey de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddeson Manor, Fribourg, 1974, Vol. II, pp. 684-685. A pair in the Greenberg collection was sold Sotheby's New York, May 21, 2004, lot 14 and another was sold Sotheby's New York, May 20, 2010, lot 22.

In all likelihood this type of candelabra existed in sets of four or six, intended to be placed on giltwood pedestals, to decorate galleries.  They were bought primarily by the rich financiers as was most of the furniture produced by André-Charles Boulle.

It is likely that Boulle's sons continued to produce this model after his retirement, the treatment of the central shaft supporting the notion that the model was "updated" circa 1730.