Lot Essay
These candlesticks are en suite with those recorded in the2 ème salon de l'Impératrice at the Palais de Fontainebleau in 1807. Described as 'une paire en cuivre gaines rondes griffes et hiboux dorés or mat hauteur 29 c' (J.P.Samoyault, Pendules et Bronzes d'Ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, I, Paris, 1989, no.157, p.176). Although their delivery is not recorded, they can confidently be attributed to the bronzier Claude Galle, who supplied a further closely related pair of 'flambeaux à étoiles', which display identical feet and drip-pans, for the appartement de la dame d'honneur de l'Impératrice at Fontainebleau between 1804-5 (ibid., no.158, p.177). It is, therefore extremely pertinent that 'Une paire de flambeaux à hibou', valued at 54 francs was recorded in Galle's workshop in August 1799.
A pair of this model was sold anonymously at Couturier Nicolay, Paris, 13 December 1995, lot 178.
A pair of this model was sold anonymously at Couturier Nicolay, Paris, 13 December 1995, lot 178.