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Lot Essay
These majestic candelabra, featuring winged figures of Victory holding aloft scrolled candle-branches, derive from a celebrated drawing by Charles Percier, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröeschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 328, fig. 5.2.1). The related drawing features a closely related winged Victory candelabrum, and bears an inscription indicating that the depicted candelabrum and other pieces on the same plate were destined for Empress Josephine's Boudoir at Saint-Cloud. J.P. Samoyault suggests that it was the celebrated fondeur-ciseleur Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) who was commissioned by the firm of the marchand-mercier Martin-Eloi Lignereux to execute the latter pair. Samoyault mentions a drawing of a related Victory candelabrum in Thomire's album-catalogue, now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (ibid).
The present candelabra can be confidently attributed to Thomire on the basis of the above design and Saint-Cloud example; the overall quality of the execution and naturalistic rendering of the figures - their drapery billowing in the wind in opposite directions - further supports the attribution to the skilled fondeur-ciseleur.
A closely related pair of Victory candelabra is at Fontainebleau (recorded in the Salon de l'Impératrice throughout the Premier Empire) and described by Samoyault as having most probably been executed by Thomire under the direction of the marchand-mercier Martin-Eloi Lignereux (J.P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, 1989, p.156, pl. 133).
Ottomeyer and Pröschel illustrate a further related candelabrum, the figure of Victory with one foot similarly resting on a semi-spherical socle with Corinthian capital, above an acanthus-wrapped square base (ill. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 328, fig. 5.2.2).
Thomire studied sculpture at the Academy of Saint-Luc, where his talent was noted by Houdon. He received his maîtrise as fondeur-ciseleur in 1772 and from 1774 worked with Gouthière, then with Prieur, before opening his own atelier in 1776. Thomire supplied mounts to Weisweiler and Beneman, but also collaborated with Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis, the artistic director of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory, to whom he supplied mounts. Thomire took over as Director of the Manufacture upon Duplessis' death in 1783, supplying all gilt-bronze mounts to the Manufacture. In 1809, he was appointed 'Ciseleur de l'Empereur' by Napoléon, and in 1811, collaborated with the silversmith Odiot on the execution of the celebrated cradle for the King of Rome.
The present candelabra can be confidently attributed to Thomire on the basis of the above design and Saint-Cloud example; the overall quality of the execution and naturalistic rendering of the figures - their drapery billowing in the wind in opposite directions - further supports the attribution to the skilled fondeur-ciseleur.
A closely related pair of Victory candelabra is at Fontainebleau (recorded in the Salon de l'Impératrice throughout the Premier Empire) and described by Samoyault as having most probably been executed by Thomire under the direction of the marchand-mercier Martin-Eloi Lignereux (J.P. Samoyault, Pendules et bronzes d'ameublement entrés sous le Premier Empire, 1989, p.156, pl. 133).
Ottomeyer and Pröschel illustrate a further related candelabrum, the figure of Victory with one foot similarly resting on a semi-spherical socle with Corinthian capital, above an acanthus-wrapped square base (ill. H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 328, fig. 5.2.2).
Thomire studied sculpture at the Academy of Saint-Luc, where his talent was noted by Houdon. He received his maîtrise as fondeur-ciseleur in 1772 and from 1774 worked with Gouthière, then with Prieur, before opening his own atelier in 1776. Thomire supplied mounts to Weisweiler and Beneman, but also collaborated with Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis, the artistic director of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory, to whom he supplied mounts. Thomire took over as Director of the Manufacture upon Duplessis' death in 1783, supplying all gilt-bronze mounts to the Manufacture. In 1809, he was appointed 'Ciseleur de l'Empereur' by Napoléon, and in 1811, collaborated with the silversmith Odiot on the execution of the celebrated cradle for the King of Rome.