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Lot Essay
Chandeliers in gilt-bronze, hung with precious rock crystal and cut-glass, were prized objects in the 18th century and were reserved only for the most elite of patrons. It is therefore extremely rare for surviving examples to appear on the market. The Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for instance, one of the finest collections of French Furniture in America, only has one chandelier from the Louis XVI period, which interestingly features similar spiral-twisted arms issuing from a pierced central rim as on this splendid example (see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol. II, p. 354, cat. 181).
A celebrated example of circa 1785 and also featuring partly spiral-twisted arms, delivered by Dominique Daguerre to the Marquis de Laborde and probably executed by François Rémond, was sold from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Christies, Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 40 (FF 2,664,000 = $448,938).
A celebrated example of circa 1785 and also featuring partly spiral-twisted arms, delivered by Dominique Daguerre to the Marquis de Laborde and probably executed by François Rémond, was sold from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Christies, Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 40 (FF 2,664,000 = $448,938).