BY PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE, CIRCA 1820-30

The pattern for these candelabra, with palm-wrapped pillars and tripod paw feet, derives in part from marble antiquities (H. Moses, Vases, Altars, Paterae, Tripods, Candelabra, Sarcophagi, London, 1814, pl. 85-6). This form was also inspired by the designs found in C. Percier and P. Fontaine's publication Recueil de Décorations Intérieures, 1801. A later variation of this model by the celebrated French bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire was delivered to the State Apartments of the Grand Trianon in April 1837, and were described as 'une paire de candélabres à balustre sur pieds à griffes, base triangle à six lumières dorés mat' (Denise Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon: meubles et objets d'art, Paris, pp.128-129).