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Lot Essay
With their griffin-supported altar with canted angles, the Wildenstein candelabra are clearly indebted to designs by the architect Jean-Demosthène Dugourc. This distinctive motif was adopted by the ciseleur-doreur Pierre-Philippe Thomire (maître in 1772) on the Pendule à Porteurs supplied by the horloger Robin in 1788 for the Cabinet des Bains of Marie-Antoinette at the Palais des Tuileries. This clock is now at now in the musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris whilst another example is in the musée des Arts Dícoratifs, Madrid (illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 327, figs. 361-62). The Madrid clock was supplied to Carlos IV by François Godon, alongside a pair of candelabra with similar altar-form bases in Sèvres porcelain, which are signed Thomire doreur à Paris 1791. Now in the Royal Collection in Madrid, these are illustrated in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p.47, pl.41.
A monumental pair of candelabra almost certainly executed by the same ciseleur-doreur is in the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy in Paris. Illustrated in situ in 'Chez Hubert de Givenchy', Le Figaro, June 1997, the Givenchy candelabra display closely related maidens standing beside a griffin-supported altar plinth that issues a columnar stem with candelabra branches.
The concept of a bow-ended plinth supported by winged putti was amongst the repertoire of the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. It features, for instance on the clock now at Broadlands, Hampshire, which was acquired by Lord Palmerston for 41.16 shillings from Daguerre in 1791. Daguerre appears to have owned the chef-modèle and is known to have subcontracted work to several bronziers, including Pierre-Philippe Thomire.
A pair of candelabra undoubtedly by the same bronzier - but with two scantily-clad female figures flanking the central griffin-supported tripartite altar plinth - is in the Ostankino Palace, Moscow. These were almost certainly acquired in Paris in the late 18th century by the enlightened connoisseur, Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (1751-1809). They are illustrated in situ in O. Neverove, Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia, London, 2004, p. 84-5, fig. 102.
PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE (1751-1843)
Pierre-Philippe Thomire, amongst the most celebrated bronzier-ciseleurs of the neoclassical period, was born into a family of ciseleurs. He worked initially for the renowned bronziers Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) and Jean-Louis Prieur (d.circa 1785-1790), ciseleur-doreur du roi, and quickly established a reputation for finely chased gilt-bronze. Thomire was responsible for designing and fitting ormolu mounts at the Sèvres factory after Duplessis's death in 1783 and he frequently collaborated with the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre.
A monumental pair of candelabra almost certainly executed by the same ciseleur-doreur is in the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy in Paris. Illustrated in situ in 'Chez Hubert de Givenchy', Le Figaro, June 1997, the Givenchy candelabra display closely related maidens standing beside a griffin-supported altar plinth that issues a columnar stem with candelabra branches.
The concept of a bow-ended plinth supported by winged putti was amongst the repertoire of the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. It features, for instance on the clock now at Broadlands, Hampshire, which was acquired by Lord Palmerston for 41.16 shillings from Daguerre in 1791. Daguerre appears to have owned the chef-modèle and is known to have subcontracted work to several bronziers, including Pierre-Philippe Thomire.
A pair of candelabra undoubtedly by the same bronzier - but with two scantily-clad female figures flanking the central griffin-supported tripartite altar plinth - is in the Ostankino Palace, Moscow. These were almost certainly acquired in Paris in the late 18th century by the enlightened connoisseur, Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (1751-1809). They are illustrated in situ in O. Neverove, Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia, London, 2004, p. 84-5, fig. 102.
PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE (1751-1843)
Pierre-Philippe Thomire, amongst the most celebrated bronzier-ciseleurs of the neoclassical period, was born into a family of ciseleurs. He worked initially for the renowned bronziers Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) and Jean-Louis Prieur (d.circa 1785-1790), ciseleur-doreur du roi, and quickly established a reputation for finely chased gilt-bronze. Thomire was responsible for designing and fitting ormolu mounts at the Sèvres factory after Duplessis's death in 1783 and he frequently collaborated with the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre.