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Lot Essay
The present splendid pair of candelabra are without doubt two of a group of fourteen created as part of an immensely elaborate surtout de table for Ferdinand-Philippe, duc d’Orléans, son of King Louis Philippe. The duc d’Orléans was one of the most dynamic figures of the July Monarchy, noted for his diplomatic and military acumen. He also championed a number of the emerging artists of his era, and in 1834, commissioned a surtout de table for his apartments in Palais de Tuileries in Paris, designed by Aimé Chenavard and Jean-Baptiste-Jules Klagmann, cast by Guillaume Denière, and incorporating works by artists such as Antoine-Louis Barye and Jean-Jacques Feuchère, who would go on to define sculpture of the romantic period.
In her study of the duc d’Orléans’ surtout, Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre references an inventory of this elaborate commission which included a description of a group of candelabra with four small génies on the bases and surmounted by figures of female musicians: ‘Les candélabres présentent quatre petits génies adossés à la base et sont dominés par une figure de musicienne : les figures sont de M. Feuchère et la plus grande partie des ornements de M. Combettes’ (I. Leroy-Jay Lemaistre, 'Des sculpteurs et des bronziers,’ Le Mécénat du duc d’Orléans : 1830-1842, Paris, 1993, p. 139). Leroy-Jay Lemaistre further suggests that said candelabra may have disappeared, or could have been sold anonymously (I. Leroy-Jay Lemaistre, op. cit., p. 139). Owing to the similarities between the present lot – notably the hardstone mountings and the style of the figures – and other known elements of the surtout such as the centrepiece sold Christie’s, New York, 21 October 2015, lot 198 ($269,000), these candelabra are almost certainly those described in the aforementioned inventory.
Following the untimely death of the duc d’Orléans, the surtout was sold by his widow in 1853 when it was widely dispersed. Judging from the descriptions, the present candelabra could be from one of several lots in the `Bronzes d’art et bronzes dorés’ section of the sale: lots three including `quatre candélabres en bronze doré à huit lumières, ornés de pendeloques et pierres de couleur et de figures modelées par Jean Feuchères’; lot four includes `Un autre Surtout, composé d’un même nombre de pièces, avec attributs et ornements différents, et dus aux mêmes artistes, soit…De quatre candélabres’. The present lot, however, is most probably from lot six: `Six candélabres en bronze doré, à huit lumières, ornés de nielles et de pierres de couleur, et à la base de figures, de J. Feuchères.’
In her study of the duc d’Orléans’ surtout, Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre references an inventory of this elaborate commission which included a description of a group of candelabra with four small génies on the bases and surmounted by figures of female musicians: ‘Les candélabres présentent quatre petits génies adossés à la base et sont dominés par une figure de musicienne : les figures sont de M. Feuchère et la plus grande partie des ornements de M. Combettes’ (I. Leroy-Jay Lemaistre, 'Des sculpteurs et des bronziers,’ Le Mécénat du duc d’Orléans : 1830-1842, Paris, 1993, p. 139). Leroy-Jay Lemaistre further suggests that said candelabra may have disappeared, or could have been sold anonymously (I. Leroy-Jay Lemaistre, op. cit., p. 139). Owing to the similarities between the present lot – notably the hardstone mountings and the style of the figures – and other known elements of the surtout such as the centrepiece sold Christie’s, New York, 21 October 2015, lot 198 ($269,000), these candelabra are almost certainly those described in the aforementioned inventory.
Following the untimely death of the duc d’Orléans, the surtout was sold by his widow in 1853 when it was widely dispersed. Judging from the descriptions, the present candelabra could be from one of several lots in the `Bronzes d’art et bronzes dorés’ section of the sale: lots three including `quatre candélabres en bronze doré à huit lumières, ornés de pendeloques et pierres de couleur et de figures modelées par Jean Feuchères’; lot four includes `Un autre Surtout, composé d’un même nombre de pièces, avec attributs et ornements différents, et dus aux mêmes artistes, soit…De quatre candélabres’. The present lot, however, is most probably from lot six: `Six candélabres en bronze doré, à huit lumières, ornés de nielles et de pierres de couleur, et à la base de figures, de J. Feuchères.’