Lot Essay
The Victory figures of these candelabra are derived from a design by Charles Percier for the 1802 furnishings of the boudoir of Josephine Bonaparte at the Château de St. Cloud (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et.al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. II, p. 346, fig. 5.2.1) and this figure was used by Pierre-Philippe Thomire on several occasions (J. Ottomeyer, op.cit, p. 346, fig. 5.2.2.). A pair of candelabra in the Château de Fontainebleau of closely related form and probably by Thomire was acquired in 1804 for the salon de l'Impératrice (J.P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrées sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 156, no. 133). Similar candelabra were sold anonymously in these Rooms, 12 December 1991, lot 31 and at Sotheby's London, 9 December 1994, lot 409.