A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURAL FOUR-LIGHT TORCHERES, ON PEDESTALS
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURAL FOUR-LIGHT TORCHERES, ON PEDESTALS
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURAL FOUR-LIGHT TORCHERES, ON PEDESTALS
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A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURAL FOUR-LIGHT TORCHERES, ON PEDESTALS
4 More
These lots have been imported from outside the EU … Read more
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURAL FOUR-LIGHT TORCHERES, ON PEDESTALS

CAST BY THIÉBAUT FRÈRES, PARIS, FROM THE MODELS BY ALBERT-ERNEST CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887), LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU AND PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURAL FOUR-LIGHT TORCHERES, ON PEDESTALS
CAST BY THIÉBAUT FRÈRES, PARIS, FROM THE MODELS BY ALBERT-ERNEST CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887), LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Each modelled as a classical maiden holding a flower and fruit-filled cornucopia supporting a lamp, signed 'A. CARRIER BELLEUSE' and with foundry mark 'THIÉBAUT FRES FONDEURS', wired for electricity, on a stop-fluted mahogany pedestal
The torchères: 60 in. (152.5 cm.) high
The pedestals: 45 in. (114.5 cm.) high
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Charlotte Young
Charlotte Young

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Lot Essay

These figural torchères of Contrapposto classical maidens supporting candelabra embody the belle époque fashion for grand interior lighting and were conceived to flank an impressive staircase or doorway. They are reminiscent of the monumental figural torchères, also sculpted by Carrier-Belleuse, and cast by Christofle for the Grand Stairway at the Opéra Garnier, Paris, and like them perfectly encapsulate the monumental opulence and artistic purpose of the travaux haussmanniens.

Many of Carrier-Belleuse's figural torchères were produced in editions later in the century by the principal French foundries. However the present nymphs do not appear in the catalogues of Durenne or Val d'Osne. More usually such torchères were produced in cast-iron, whereas the present pair are in more costly bronze by the foundry Thiébaut Frères.

Rare, the present figures are identical in shape and model, but reduced in scale, to a pair of torchères flanking a mantel clock ‘supplied by the famous sculptor Carrier Belleuse’ which were shown at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1867 (The Art Journal, The Illustrated Catalogue of the Universal Exhibition, London, 1867. p. 112).

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