Lot Essay
The 'C' couronné poinçon was a tax mark used on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.
With their spiralling central shaft inspired by the rococo designs of Meissonier, these candelabra were almost certainly meant for the middle of a dining-table where they could be admired from all sides. Two other pairs of this model exist, although both are cast with dragons instead of the ho-ho birds found here:
- a pair given to the Musée du Louvre in 1973 by M. and Mme René Grog-Carven (oA10 520) illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, 1986, vol. I, p. 106, fig. 2.1.13
- a pair formerly in the collection of Mrs Henry Walters, Baltimore,
sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 2 May 1941, lot 1388, resold
from the collection of Georges Lurcy, Parke-Bernet Galleries,
New York, 8 November 1957, lot 178 and finally sold Sotheby's
Monaco, 22 June 1986, lot 476. This pair was decorated with the arms of François-Léonor Goyon de Marignon (d. 1751).
Both of these pairs were also struck with the 'C' couronné poinçon (in use from 1745 to 1749) and have bases cast in two sections without the 'C' couronné. It seems likely that these three pairs all formed part of the same commission executed just before 1749. They probably proved profoundly unstable and subsequently had bases added to them. Traces of silvering appear on this lot which might confirm that they were originally silvered for use in the center of a table.
The design of the central socle was frequently repeated on candlesticks using putti instead of birds or dragons. It is directly inspired by plates 10-12 of Meissonier's Livre de chandeliers de sculpture en argent, published in 1728. This attribution is further supported by the description in the sale of Leclerc of December 17, 1764 (only 14 years after Meissonier's death) of:
"deux petits flambeaux de Meissonier composés d'enfants
qui portent des torchères dorées en or moulu"
With their spiralling central shaft inspired by the rococo designs of Meissonier, these candelabra were almost certainly meant for the middle of a dining-table where they could be admired from all sides. Two other pairs of this model exist, although both are cast with dragons instead of the ho-ho birds found here:
- a pair given to the Musée du Louvre in 1973 by M. and Mme René Grog-Carven (oA10 520) illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, 1986, vol. I, p. 106, fig. 2.1.13
- a pair formerly in the collection of Mrs Henry Walters, Baltimore,
sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 2 May 1941, lot 1388, resold
from the collection of Georges Lurcy, Parke-Bernet Galleries,
New York, 8 November 1957, lot 178 and finally sold Sotheby's
Monaco, 22 June 1986, lot 476. This pair was decorated with the arms of François-Léonor Goyon de Marignon (d. 1751).
Both of these pairs were also struck with the 'C' couronné poinçon (in use from 1745 to 1749) and have bases cast in two sections without the 'C' couronné. It seems likely that these three pairs all formed part of the same commission executed just before 1749. They probably proved profoundly unstable and subsequently had bases added to them. Traces of silvering appear on this lot which might confirm that they were originally silvered for use in the center of a table.
The design of the central socle was frequently repeated on candlesticks using putti instead of birds or dragons. It is directly inspired by plates 10-12 of Meissonier's Livre de chandeliers de sculpture en argent, published in 1728. This attribution is further supported by the description in the sale of Leclerc of December 17, 1764 (only 14 years after Meissonier's death) of:
"deux petits flambeaux de Meissonier composés d'enfants
qui portent des torchères dorées en or moulu"