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拍品專文
Interestingly, a pair of Regence candelabra of this model were sold by the Marquess of Cholmondeley, 'Works of Art from Houghton', Christie's, London, 8 december 1994, lot 6, while a further pair of related candlesticks, with added Louis XV feet, were sold by M. Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's, Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 12.
The use of terme figures in architecture and, subsequently, in decorative objects dates back to antiquity. A fashion revived during the Renaissance and reinterpreted for various architectural and decorative schemes during the Baroque period by such decorative artists as Vredeman de Vries and Jean Bérain, several designs by the latter of circa 1693 show both male and female termes of upholding architectural structures (illustrated in 'Louis XIV Faste et Décors', Exhibition Catalogue, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 1960, nos. 574 and 576, pl. LXXXIX).
The inspiration for the design of these terme candlesticks, however, lies with Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), the celebrated artist who worked extensively for Louis XIV and was appointed Director of the Académie Royale de peinture et de Sculpture and, later, Directeur de la Manufacture Royale des Meubles de la Couronne. An early design of circa 1670 depicts three maidens upholding a tazza on a base of winged female sphinxes (illustrated in P. Thornton, Seventeenth-Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland, New Haven and London, 1990, p. 14, fig. 7). A further drawing, probably executed by a Parisian silversmith and based on the design by Le Brun, shows similar maidens standing on a base decorated with a mask, which also appears on the base of these candlesticks (op. cit., p. 14, fig. 8). A final design by Charles Le Brun, now in the Musée du Louvre, displays three female figures that have been turned into termes, standing on a rectangular pedestal and upholding a vase.
The use of terme figures in architecture and, subsequently, in decorative objects dates back to antiquity. A fashion revived during the Renaissance and reinterpreted for various architectural and decorative schemes during the Baroque period by such decorative artists as Vredeman de Vries and Jean Bérain, several designs by the latter of circa 1693 show both male and female termes of upholding architectural structures (illustrated in 'Louis XIV Faste et Décors', Exhibition Catalogue, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 1960, nos. 574 and 576, pl. LXXXIX).
The inspiration for the design of these terme candlesticks, however, lies with Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), the celebrated artist who worked extensively for Louis XIV and was appointed Director of the Académie Royale de peinture et de Sculpture and, later, Directeur de la Manufacture Royale des Meubles de la Couronne. An early design of circa 1670 depicts three maidens upholding a tazza on a base of winged female sphinxes (illustrated in P. Thornton, Seventeenth-Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland, New Haven and London, 1990, p. 14, fig. 7). A further drawing, probably executed by a Parisian silversmith and based on the design by Le Brun, shows similar maidens standing on a base decorated with a mask, which also appears on the base of these candlesticks (op. cit., p. 14, fig. 8). A final design by Charles Le Brun, now in the Musée du Louvre, displays three female figures that have been turned into termes, standing on a rectangular pedestal and upholding a vase.