A PAIR OF ORMOLU AND BRONZE CANDLESTICKS

19TH CENTURY

细节
A PAIR OF ORMOLU AND BRONZE CANDLESTICKS
19th Century
Each with a cherub holding aloft a cornucopia with bunches of grapes whilst seated on the back of a crocodile with his tail twisted between his legs, fitted for electricity, with ivory pleated-silk shades
8½in. (21.5cm.) high, excluding fitments (2)

拍品专文

These candlesticks are designed in the 'English' Romantic style. The origin of the style dates back to the Exposition de l'Industrie of 1823 when Fauconnier exhibited twenty animals after models by the sculptor Barye. The unusual combination of a child riding a crocodile and holding a cornucopia with vine brances is typical of the Romantic movement.
A pair of George IV silver candlesticks by Edward Cornelius Farrell, London, dated 1823, with a river god and his companion riding almost identical crocodiles was offered anonymously, Sotheby's London, 27 April 1989, lot 214. A bronze pair of related candlesticks was sold anonymously, Christie's New York, 20 November 1982, lot 266, and a further similar pair of silver candlesticks by L.R. Ruchmann, Paris, dated 1819-1838, was sold anonymously, Sotheby's Monaco, 15 June 1996, lot 163. The latter pair was formerly in the collection of the 4th Marquess of Hertford (d.1890).