CIRCA 1765-1770

Details

A PAIR OF LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU TWO-LIGHT CANDELABRA
CIRCA 1765-1770
Each surmounted by a flaming finial above a spreading acanthus leaf supported by a gadrooned and guilloche bowl issuing two reeded and foliate-cast branches, supporting foliate drip trays molded with a laurel wreath and gadrooned nozzles, the central stem with four entrelac uprights terminating in goat hooves above a rosette-centered entrelac platform supported by an acanthus-cast socle above a fluted base hung with laurel swags, the circular laurel-molded plinth on four square feet decorated with paterae, each with label inscribed 'GR-F 28' and 'GR-F 29' respectively, numbered 'VI'
19 ½ in. (50 cm.) high, 14 in. (36 cm.) wide

Provenance

Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905), Salon des tapisseries, in the Château de Ferrières, Seine-et-Marne.
By descent to the present owners.

Conditions of sale

Lot Essay

The powerfully structured and bold neoclassicism of this pair of candelabra reflect the avant-garde neoclassical style of the 1760s, also known as the goût grec, promoted by progressive designers such as Jean-François de Neufforge and Jean-Charles Delafosse, whose Nouvelle Iconologie Historique of 1768 featured a wide variety of ornament inspired by antiquity. The plates were composed to inspire artisans working in a wide range of media, who could either carry out the published design or re-use various elements from it. The use of a flaming finial, the slender uprights and hanging laurel swags points directly to Delafosse as the source of the design for this pair of candelabra, see H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschl et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Vol. I., Munich, 1987, figs. 3.9.4 and 3.9.7, pp. 186-7.

More from Rothschild Masterpieces: Le Goût Rothschild

View All