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Lot Essay
Although the design of these candelabra is certainly French in origin, they clearly seem to have appealed to North European, and specifically Russian, taste in the late 18th century. It is probable therefore that a marchand mercier such as Dominique Daguerre, whose widespread contacts with foreign clientele are well recorded, may have been ultimately responsible for the creation of this model of candelabrum. And while in most of the related models, the main body of the vase is in marble or another stone, the present pair is unusual with its use of porcelain. Another pair of closely related candelabra with the same ram head-mounts and similar leaf and guilloche-cast bases, and also with the more unusual pairing of bronze with porcelain are illustrated here from the collections of the Prince Nikolai Yusopov (1751-1831). Yusopov, who acquired the estate of Arkhangelskoye from the Golitsyn family in 1810, brought with him his celebrated collections of paintings and sculptures and decorative arts (see V. Rapoport, Arkhangelskoye: A Country Estate of the 18th and 19th Centuries, Leningrad, 1984, no. 35).
Perhaps the most dramatic example of this model of lily-spray candelabra is the set of four from the Partridge Collection, sold Christie's, New York, 17 May 2006, lot 173. The fact that these were made of gilt-lead, a typically North European technique, rather than the gilt-bronze prefered by French craftsmen, is yet another indication of the popularity of this exuberant model with North European clientele.
Although with vases of alabaster, another pair of similar candelabra were offered Christie's, New York, 21 October 2005, lot 351. They also point to a North European or Russian origin with their distinctive form and large-scale ram's masks as they relate to a pair of vases, thought possibly to be North European, sold Christie's, London, 12 December 2002, lot 129. Another clue to their possible Russian origin are a pair of porphyry vases with ram's mask mounts from the Kolyvan stone-cutting manufactory in Pavlovsk Palace (illustrated in E. Ducamp, ed., Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 205, fig. 11).
In the Louvre there is perhaps the closest pair of lily-spray candelabra and, although the vases are in alabaster, almost all of the mounts are identical as the present pair. For several other variations being produced by the Paris workshops see the two lily-spray candelabras now in the Musée Jacquemart André, Paris and the Victorian and Albert Museum, London, both of circa 1780 (H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen: Die bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, Munich, 1986, nos. 4.7.11 and 4.7.12).
Perhaps the most dramatic example of this model of lily-spray candelabra is the set of four from the Partridge Collection, sold Christie's, New York, 17 May 2006, lot 173. The fact that these were made of gilt-lead, a typically North European technique, rather than the gilt-bronze prefered by French craftsmen, is yet another indication of the popularity of this exuberant model with North European clientele.
Although with vases of alabaster, another pair of similar candelabra were offered Christie's, New York, 21 October 2005, lot 351. They also point to a North European or Russian origin with their distinctive form and large-scale ram's masks as they relate to a pair of vases, thought possibly to be North European, sold Christie's, London, 12 December 2002, lot 129. Another clue to their possible Russian origin are a pair of porphyry vases with ram's mask mounts from the Kolyvan stone-cutting manufactory in Pavlovsk Palace (illustrated in E. Ducamp, ed., Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 205, fig. 11).
In the Louvre there is perhaps the closest pair of lily-spray candelabra and, although the vases are in alabaster, almost all of the mounts are identical as the present pair. For several other variations being produced by the Paris workshops see the two lily-spray candelabras now in the Musée Jacquemart André, Paris and the Victorian and Albert Museum, London, both of circa 1780 (H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen: Die bronzearbeiten des Spätbarock und Klassizismus, Munich, 1986, nos. 4.7.11 and 4.7.12).