A PAIR OF EMPIRE SILVER-GILT FOUR-LIGHT CANDELABRA

MAKER'S MARK OF MARTIN-GUILLAUME BIENNAIS, PARIS, 1798-1809

Details

A PAIR OF EMPIRE SILVER-GILT FOUR-LIGHT CANDELABRA
Maker's mark of Martin-Guillaume Biennais, Paris, 1798-1809
Each on triangular-shaped base chased with foliage resting on three paw feet, the lower part of the detachable baluster stem applied with laurel leaves, the upper part with beading, rosettes and water-leaf socket, the three branches with scrolling supports applied with rosettes, each socket chased with laurel-leaf band and water-leaf rim, the central partly fluted campana-shaped socket with oak foliage bands and water-leaf border, one stamped Biennais, the other stamped Biennais Orfre Rue St Honoré A Paris, both marked on bases, branches and three sockets
53.5 cm. (21 in.) high
5,400 gr. (173 oz.) (2)

Lot Essay

Cf. a similar pair of silver-gilt candelabra by the same maker, from the Borghese Service, - now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (see Faith Dennis, Three Centuries of French Domestic Silver New York, 1960, fig. 65). These candelabra are after designs by Percier and Fontaine. The "club-shaped" stem and "horn-shaped" branches appear on a design for a large candelabrum in Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, Paris, 1812, plate 69 (see illustration). The triangular bases are found on plate 52 etc.

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