RUSSIAN, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

This pair of gilt and silvered-bronze candelabra is closely related to the pair of gilt-bronze candelabra from the Kremlin Palace, with inventory nos. 725 and 726 (sold Christie's, London, 8 December 1994, lot 518 (£21,850)). The Kremlin pair, and the present pair, were possibly designed by the architect, artist and archaeologist Feodor Grigorevich Solntsev (d. 1892), responsible for some of the interior decoration at the Kremlin in the 'Neo-Russian' style favoured by the Tsar. Solntsev was renowned for his drawings of Old Russian arms, costumes and church plate. In 1830, he was sent at the Tsar's command to Moscow 'to draw from life our ancient customs, dress, weapons, church and royal plate, chattels, horse's harness and other objects' (I. Sychev, Russian Bronze, Moscow, 2003, p. 10). He published his collection, which included armorial subjects in 1846-53 under the title 'Antiquities of the Russian State'; this six-volume work became the handbook for architects and interior designers working in the Russian style.

These armorial candelabras were probably created to commemorate the reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin Armoury Palace, constructed in 1851 on the orders of Nicholas I, near the Borovitskii Gate, and designed by Konstantin Ton, the architect of the New Grand Kremlin Palace. The Armoury was the storehouse of the Tsars, but also their foundry, an icon-painting workshop and treasure house. The present example, similarly to the Kremlin pair, illustrate the historic suits of Russian armour in the Armoury. A pair of the same model sold Sotheby's, New York, 28 April 2006, lot 611 ($27,000).