Lot Essay
The stems of the candlesticks are formed as the demi-figure of the arcadian fertility god Pan, who was responsible for the education of Bacchus, god of festivities. He is depicted here as a love-enslaved caryatid and serves as a herm-support for a wine-krater vase providing the candle socket. The vine-wreathed deity emerges from a vine-twined and antique fluted boundary post and is supported on a serpentined mound-plinth, which is designed in the French picturesque manner, with voluted ribbon-scrolled and acanthus-twined tripod feet likewise festooned with vines.
The use of Fontainebleauesque caryatids for candlesticks can be traced back to the 16th century, in the works of Jacques Androuet Ducerceau (c.1515-1585), such as the etching of two caryatids and a herm in the Victoria and Albert Museum E.1211-1923, and also in designs by Jean le Pautre (1616-1682) for a caryatid, probably from his Nouveau Livre des Termes, (Victoria and Albert Museum, E.6701-1908), published in the third decade of the 17th century. A drawing for a female figure stem candlestick by George Michael Moser (1706-1783), (Victoria and Albert Museum, E.4895-1968), is related to the form of the present example with serpentined base and vase-shaped socket. However, the drawing, inspired by Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, has a more fluid quality than the more statuesque male herms modelled by Lamerie. The present examples support the sockets on their shoulders, while in the Moser design the socket is held high, seemingly supported by the figure's hair.
A pair of caryatid candelabra by Paul de Lamerie, 1747/1748, with bases and stems of almost identical design to the present lot, are in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and are illustrated in P. A. S. Phillips, Paul de Lamerie, Citizen and Goldsmith of London, London, 1935, pl. CLIII. Phillips notes the French influence in their conception and describes them as 'decidedly spectacular and un-English'. The Williamstown candelabra are ungilded. The later gilding on the present lot was almost certainly applied in the 19th century. A pair of female caryatid candelabra by Paul de Lamerie, 1748, was sold from the Dowty Collection, Christie's New York, 22 April 1993, lot 61. These, along with the celebrated set of twelve candelabra made for William, 2nd Earl of Bristol, by Simon le Sage in 1754, illustrated in G. Jackson-Stops, The Treasure Houses of Britain, London, 1985, no. 453, are inspired by the Moser designs.
The use of Fontainebleauesque caryatids for candlesticks can be traced back to the 16th century, in the works of Jacques Androuet Ducerceau (c.1515-1585), such as the etching of two caryatids and a herm in the Victoria and Albert Museum E.1211-1923, and also in designs by Jean le Pautre (1616-1682) for a caryatid, probably from his Nouveau Livre des Termes, (Victoria and Albert Museum, E.6701-1908), published in the third decade of the 17th century. A drawing for a female figure stem candlestick by George Michael Moser (1706-1783), (Victoria and Albert Museum, E.4895-1968), is related to the form of the present example with serpentined base and vase-shaped socket. However, the drawing, inspired by Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, has a more fluid quality than the more statuesque male herms modelled by Lamerie. The present examples support the sockets on their shoulders, while in the Moser design the socket is held high, seemingly supported by the figure's hair.
A pair of caryatid candelabra by Paul de Lamerie, 1747/1748, with bases and stems of almost identical design to the present lot, are in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and are illustrated in P. A. S. Phillips, Paul de Lamerie, Citizen and Goldsmith of London, London, 1935, pl. CLIII. Phillips notes the French influence in their conception and describes them as 'decidedly spectacular and un-English'. The Williamstown candelabra are ungilded. The later gilding on the present lot was almost certainly applied in the 19th century. A pair of female caryatid candelabra by Paul de Lamerie, 1748, was sold from the Dowty Collection, Christie's New York, 22 April 1993, lot 61. These, along with the celebrated set of twelve candelabra made for William, 2nd Earl of Bristol, by Simon le Sage in 1754, illustrated in G. Jackson-Stops, The Treasure Houses of Britain, London, 1985, no. 453, are inspired by the Moser designs.