Lot 459
459
A PAIR OF WILLIAM IV ORMOLU SEVEN-BRANCH CANDELABRA
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A PAIR OF WILLIAM IV ORMOLU SEVEN-BRANCH CANDELABRA

SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF WILLIAM IV ORMOLU SEVEN-BRANCH CANDELABRA
SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Of naturalistic form, each with children playing about a tree-trunk, the bases modelled with wild boar, lions and panthers, elements of casting stamped with various letters
31½ in. (80 cm.) high; 17½ in. (44½ cm.) wide (2)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The candelabra, inspired by the writings of the Greek sophist and rhetorician Philostratus, author of Imagines, and conceived in the Louis XV 'picturesque' manner, feature apple-harvesting youths (erotes) sporting under a tree and celebrating the Feast of Venus. Their festive tripod plinths incorporate lions and panthers, emblematic of the harvest and wine-deity Bacchus accompanied by boars, recalling the love of Venus for the hunter Adonis. This 'picturesque' fashion introduced to London by Huguenot goldsmiths around the 1740s was revived in the 19th century as the George IV 'Louis Quatorze' fashion. A number of the leading goldsmiths also executed such candlesticks in ormolu as well as in silver.

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