Lot Essay
Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1675-1750) was one of the greatest proponents of the genre pittoresque, now known as the Rococo style. The son of a silversmith and sculptor, he went to Paris in 1718, and later succeeded Jean Bérain II as dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi. The design for these candlesticks bears a close resemblance to nos. 10, 11 and 12 in his Livre de Chandeliers de Sculpture en Argent of 1728, although there the candlestick is supported by a pair of putto (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 102, no. 2.1.1).
A related pair of candlesticks from the Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in F. J. B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol. II, cat.no. 167, fig. 336, while the pair in the Wallace Collection, London, stamped with the C couronné poinçon is illustrated in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue fo Furniture, London, 1996, pp. 1204-1209, cat.235. A further pair is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., op. cit., vol. I, p. 103, no. 2.1.4).
A related pair of candlesticks from the Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in F. J. B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol. II, cat.no. 167, fig. 336, while the pair in the Wallace Collection, London, stamped with the C couronné poinçon is illustrated in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue fo Furniture, London, 1996, pp. 1204-1209, cat.235. A further pair is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., op. cit., vol. I, p. 103, no. 2.1.4).