A large pair of Empire style ormolu, patinated bronze and marble figural candelabra

CIRCA 1880

Details

A large pair of Empire style ormolu, patinated bronze and marble figural candelabra
Circa 1880
Each modelled as a Classically-draped winged figure of Victory standing on a spehere and holding aloft two tiers of scrolling candlearms, above a griotte rouge marble plinth with stiff-leaf moulding and applied to the front with a lyre, drilled for electricity
55¾ in. (141.7 cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

These candelabra, with Victory personified as a winged female figure, are conceived in the Roman manner popularised by Charles Percier and P. F. L. Fontaine's, Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, 1801. Celebrating the sun-deity Apollo and the Element of Fire, the Victory figures of these candelabra are derived from an 1802 design by Percier for the furnishing of the boudoir of Josephine Bonaparte at the Château de Saint-Cloud (see, H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel, et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 328, ill. 5.2.1). Related winged female figures executed by the celebrated Parisian bronzier-ciseleur Pierre-Philippe Thomire (elected maître-fondeur in 1772, d. 1843) are found on candelabra in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (op. cit. H. Ottomeyer, p. 329).

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