ATTRIBUTED TO CLAUDE GALLE, CIRCA 1815

These candelabra are closely related to the documented oeuvre of the bronzier Claude Galle, who delivered 'une paire de candelabres figures ailées, bronzées sure une demi boule à feuilles d'eau ciselées dorés en or mat' for the Boudoir of the Petit Trianon at Versailles in 1809. These were later moved to the Grand Trianon and are illustrated in D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, meubles et objets d'art, vol. I, Paris, 1975, p.34. These latter candelabra feature candle-branches almost identical to those on the present pair, particularly in the treatment of the palmette-enriched nozzles and winged female busts. A candelabrum also featuring the same design to the branches and nozzles, in addition to a related base supported by griffins, was in the Laura collection and sold Sotheby's, Paris, 27 June 2001, lot 103. The motif of the urn flanked by laurel branches and female sphinxes found on the base of the present candelabra also appears on an Empire incense burner in the Baden State Museum, Karlsruhe (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 362, fig. 5.12.1).