Lot Essay
This celebrated model of candelabra can be identified with the pair recorded in the stock of the maître-ébéniste Jean Goyer, which he sold to his son, the maître-doreur Jacques Goyer on 9 January 1789. Listed under the heading 'Girandoles dorées en ormoulu', the pair was described as 'I autre (paire) à enfant portant des Tulippes 300 (Livres)'' (Minutier Central, Etude XXI, Liasse 560: G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, vol. II, no. 176, pp. 710-12).
As de Bellaigue noted, the model for this design probably post-dates 1785, as the fashion for waistcoats with flared ends was superceded in 1786 with that for waistcoats with straight edges, as features on the young boy.
Apart from the Waddesdon pair, which has red griotte marble bases, further pairs with white marble bases are in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Inv. No. 972 972 a - 1882) and the Louvre, Paris (Louvre, Catalogue, no. 362).
As de Bellaigue noted, the model for this design probably post-dates 1785, as the fashion for waistcoats with flared ends was superceded in 1786 with that for waistcoats with straight edges, as features on the young boy.
Apart from the Waddesdon pair, which has red griotte marble bases, further pairs with white marble bases are in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Inv. No. 972 972 a - 1882) and the Louvre, Paris (Louvre, Catalogue, no. 362).