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Lot Essay
Numerous publications have attributed this model of girandoles to Jean-Louis Prieur, basing the attribution upon an identical pair sold from the Oppenheimer Collection at Christie's London, 10 June 1913, lot 68 which were mistakenly thought to have been signed. A careful re-reading of the catalogue entry for the 1913 sale, however, confirms that only the clock, sold alongside the candelabra as a garniture, was signed. That clock, offered by M. Steinitz to the musée du Louvre in 1985, was inscribed 'Prieure sculpteur à Paris'.
This model of candelabra can be dated stylistically to 1775-80. A pair standing on marble socles is precisely described in the sale following the death of Bailli du Breteuil in 1785 (2252 livres to Lebrun):
A second pair, acquired by Lemaitre de la Martinière before 1783, was still listed as standing on the mantelpiece of the salon at his château du Marais in the late 19th Century.
A pair of girandoles of this model are in the Wallace Collection, London (illustrated in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, III, London, 1996, p.1222-23, no. 239). These were, however, already part of the collection of the Marquess of Hertford in 1865.
Finally, a third pair, of a model datable to around 1785, was sold from the collection of Sir Anthony de Rothschild, Bt., Christie's, London, 13 June 1923, lot 44.
This model of candelabra can be dated stylistically to 1775-80. A pair standing on marble socles is precisely described in the sale following the death of Bailli du Breteuil in 1785 (2252 livres to Lebrun):
A second pair, acquired by Lemaitre de la Martinière before 1783, was still listed as standing on the mantelpiece of the salon at his château du Marais in the late 19th Century.
A pair of girandoles of this model are in the Wallace Collection, London (illustrated in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, III, London, 1996, p.1222-23, no. 239). These were, however, already part of the collection of the Marquess of Hertford in 1865.
Finally, a third pair, of a model datable to around 1785, was sold from the collection of Sir Anthony de Rothschild, Bt., Christie's, London, 13 June 1923, lot 44.