A pair of gilt-bronze, patinated bronze rouge griotte and verde antico candelabra Louis XVI, late 18th/early 19th century

each in the form of two neo-classical maidens in drapery holding aloft an amphora shaped engine-turned and leaf cast vase surmounted by rams' masks issuing seven spirally-twisted scrolled foliate cast candlearms with a single central nozzle the drip-pans and nozzles cast with leaves on a rouge griotte socle surmounted by an egg-and-dart border with berried laurel below, on a square base with concave corners; formerly fitted for electricity

Strong model and rare large size in overall very good conserved condition. The colour is slightly darker overall more natural and attractive than in the catalogue photograph. The quality of the casting and chasing is very good. One candlearm has been recently resoldered and on the same one there is evidence of another candlearm having been resoldered but this has been so well executed and is hardly noticeable. Two of the foliate sprays on the bottom of a candlearm on one candelabrum and one on the other lacks gilding on the stem (one of which is a bit loose) which can easily be touched up. One of these foliate sprays on one candelabrum is bent inwards but can be straightened. The candlenozzles on the top are loose and need securing as this is due to the wiring having been removed. Some later metal screws securing the rams's masks. There is a medium sized chip to the lower edge of the rouge griotte base of one and a chip to the front right and left corners of the verde antico marble plinth and on the other one a chip to the front right corner of the verde antico marble but this can easily be restored.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk Les Collections, Paris,1993, p.189.
H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p. 254, fig. 4.7.1, p. 284, fig.4.14.8.
Sylvie Legrand-Rossi, Le Mobilier du Musée Nisim de Camondo, Saint-Etienne, 2012, p. 26

These impressive candelabra 1m in height are beautifully cast and chased. Whilst several versions of this model exist the closest in terms of the elaborately cast upper section with identical candlearms, nozzles and rams' mask and wheatsheaves,  however, with a central candle-nozzle in the form of a flaming flower-filled wicker basket, is a pair sold from the Gutzwiller Collection, lot 100, Sotheby's Monaco, 1st July 1995.

The design of the figures is loosely based upon a sketch by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin illustrated by H.Ottomeyer et al., op. cit., p. 254, fig. 4.7.1. This sketch is of plaster models of pairs of figures holding candle-branches exhibited at the Salon in 1761 by Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-91), Director of the Sculpture Studio at Sèvres (1759-66). They were intended to be cast in silver by the orfèvre François-Thomas Germain. They are described in the Explication des Peintures, Sculptures et gravures, de Messieurs de l' Academie royale. ...dans le grand Salon du Louvre pour l'année 1761, as `Deux Grouppes de femmes en platre ce sont des chandeliers pour être exécutés en argent. Ils  sont deux pieds six pouces de haut chacun'. The design was for candelabra of approximately eighty-one centimetres high, slightly smaller than the offered candelabra. It is also worthwhile considering another sketch illustrated by the same authors, op. cit., p. 284, fig. 4.14.8 for a design by Henri Auguste, Paris, circa 1785 which also must have inspired the makers of the offered pair, reproduced here in fig. 1.

A number of other candelabra are known which show similarities to the offered pair and which may also have been inpired by the Falconet design. Five different pairs of this model are recorded including a pair in the Palace of Pavlosk, a second pair illustrated by Ottomeyer, et al., op. cit., p. 254, fig. 4.14.10. A third pair with three candelarms is in the musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris, illustrated by Legrand-Rossi, p. 26. The fourth pair with five candlearms, was sold Palais Galleria, Paris, 26th March 1973, lot 35.