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Lot Essay
Félix Chopin was the son of the Parisian fondeur Julien Chopin. After beginning his career in Paris he moved to St. Petersburg in 1838 and around 1841 acquired the workshop of Alexander Guérin which was on the verge of bankruptcy. A keen entrepreneur, Chopin soon revitalized the business by moving to new premises and employing new craftsman, however the real secret to his success was his keen eye that responded quickly to the slightest change in fashion. Chopin was for over forty years the principal supplier to the Russian Imperial Court and, despite his prodigious output, was so in demand that he risked currying disfavour by declining prestigious orders. Notable commissions included chandeliers and sconces for the Kremlin Palace in Moscow (1845-1849), chandeliers, clocks and candelabra for the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg (1849), the Tsarevich's personal palace in Peterhof (1850) and the palace of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (1855-1886). At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878 he presented a Louis XVI style bronze and malachite console table and various ormolu objets d'art.
The ovoid vase bodies of these candelabra are after a model by the celebrated sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738-1814), made during his time at the French Academy in Rome from 1762 to 1771. One noted terracotta example, formerly in the collection of the princely Russian Dolgoroukov family, is now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. With characteristic flare Chopin combines the vases with a Régence style of tiered close-branch candelabra thus creating a stylistic mélange of baroque, rococo and neo-classicism. The base edge of each is inscribed with a JA or BA monogram. Although it is not known to whom this relates, the inscription appears to be contemporary, and given that Chopin was the choice bronzier of the Imperial Court, it is likely to represent a suitably noble patron.
The ovoid vase bodies of these candelabra are after a model by the celebrated sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738-1814), made during his time at the French Academy in Rome from 1762 to 1771. One noted terracotta example, formerly in the collection of the princely Russian Dolgoroukov family, is now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. With characteristic flare Chopin combines the vases with a Régence style of tiered close-branch candelabra thus creating a stylistic mélange of baroque, rococo and neo-classicism. The base edge of each is inscribed with a JA or BA monogram. Although it is not known to whom this relates, the inscription appears to be contemporary, and given that Chopin was the choice bronzier of the Imperial Court, it is likely to represent a suitably noble patron.