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Lot Essay
These unusual candelabra, with three owls standing back to back, relate to a pair of candlesticks noted in an 1807 inventory at the château de Fontainebleau. Listed in the second salon of the Empress: 'une paire (flambeaux) en cuivre gaines rondes griffes et hiboux dorés or mat hauteur 29c', they are illustrated in J-P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, Paris, 1989, p. 176, fig. 157.
The attribution to Claude Galle is based on a document from his atelier, dated August 1799 which notes 'une paire de flambeaux à hibou'. Claude Galle was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the Empire period and when his workshop was in full force he is reported to have had over four hundred employees. He received countless commisions from the Garde-Meuble and is known to have supplied aristocrats such as Louis-Alexandre Berthier and the Prince de Wagram for the château de Grosbois.
The attribution to Claude Galle is based on a document from his atelier, dated August 1799 which notes 'une paire de flambeaux à hibou'. Claude Galle was one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the Empire period and when his workshop was in full force he is reported to have had over four hundred employees. He received countless commisions from the Garde-Meuble and is known to have supplied aristocrats such as Louis-Alexandre Berthier and the Prince de Wagram for the château de Grosbois.